Jaylen Brown has become a spokesperson of sorts for the entire NBA — not just the Boston Celtics — when it comes to social issues and the chaotic state of current events the United States has faced for who knows how long now.
And for good reason.
From the youngest player ever to be appointed as vice president of the National Basketball Players’ Association, you’re going to get a response that is researched and well thought out. There is no well-intentioned virtue signaling from the man who drove 15 hours from Boston to lead peaceful protests in his native Atlanta.
The social change he says he’s fighting for? He’s really about that life.
That was evident Thursday afternoon after Celtics practice, when Brown inevitably was asked about Wednesday’s inauguration, where President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn into office.
Brown was asked, essentially, if the changing of the guard at the White House brought him any relief. But as we should know by now, he doesn’t play into identity politics.
A change in administration isn’t what he’s been fighting for.
“Like everybody, we all want to be optimistic and definitely feel like change is going to come, but I think we’ve seen this before,” Brown said.
“I think we’ve had previous presidents who gave those same glimmers of hope and people were still dying that shouldn’t have been. There’s still systemic oppression that exists. I don’t want to be pessimistic, but I think now having a new face (Biden), people are taking their foot off the gas, thinking that everything is ok now. I would like to challenge that. We still have a lot of work to do, regardless if Biden is in office or not.”
It’s a fair point. Especially considering both Biden and Harris have been elected public officials for decades.
Brown was proud to see so many fellow athletes stepping up as protests against racial inequality swept the nation, but that can’t relent. The emerging NBA All-Star wants to keep seeing that effort, like in the way he and his Celtics teammates have been pushing for a Massachusetts police reform bill to pass in their fight for social justice.
These are the steps that ultimately lead to real change, no matter who is in the oval office.
“My dilemma was never with any presidencies or selections of different faces. It’s more about the system, I think, that needs to be changed. I definitely think a lot of people feel at ease knowing that there’s a different president that’s going to be representing our country going forward. I know there was a lot of stress attached to our former president, potentially. But I definitely want to keep the same energy up in terms of having the awareness and pushing forward for change. We’ve obviously had glimmers of hope in the past, and they haven’t necessarily panned out to any direct change. I want people to still keep the same energy. Just because we have a new president doesn’t mean the system doesn’t need to be changed. We gotta keep the same energy up. People still gotta care. People still need to make phone calls, you know, etc. So, I’m looking forward to continuing to fight for change.”
Well said, per usual.
