Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Opens Up About Special Dunk Contest Tribute

Jaylen Brown represented the Celtics well Saturday night in Indianapolis, but he momentarily ditched his Boston jersey for a good reason.

Brown, who reached the finals in his first-ever NBA Slam Dunk Contest appearance, rocked a Terrence Clarke Brewster Academy jersey for his first dunk of the championship round. Clarke, a Boston native who played collegiate basketball at Kentucky, was killed in a car accident in Los Angeles in late April 2021 when he was only 19 years old.

After the event, in which Brown finished second to repeat champion Mac McClung, the Celtics star opened up about paying homage to Clark on a star-studded stage.

"Yeah, Terrence was like my little bro," Brown told reporters, per The Boston Globe. "Definitely a Boston connection. I wanted to have a purpose in everything that I was doing. I wanted everything to have a message behind it, and I think that's what I did tonight."

The All-Star festivities for Brown didn't end with the Dunk Contest. The 27-year-old and Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum are set to play in the Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference All-Star Game on Sunday night.

Tipoff from Gainbridge Fieldhouse is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.