Jaylen Brown said there were some Boston Celtics players who did not want to participate in the NBA’s restart not that long ago — including himself.
Brown, who led a protest in Atlanta, has been actively engaged in the protests throughout the country geared around bringing greater awareness and attention to police brutality and a litany of systemic issues impacting Blacks following the death of George Floyd, whose death came about while a now-ex police officer had his knee firmly planted in Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
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On a conference call with reporters on Monday, Brown also indicated that he was dealing with some family matters that he had to address that also gave him a moment to seriously think about not joining the Celtics in Orlando.
However, Brown said he and his teammates who were on the fence about returning eventually decided to join the team after they had additional information from the league as to how things would work as part of the league’s return to action since play was suspended on March 12 — the day after the first NBA player, Utah’s Rudy Gobert, tested positive for the coronavirus.
For Brown, utilizing the platform that he and several players will have will be one of the keys to making this return-to-action a successful one for him and the Celtics.
At the end of the day, Brown understands that this reboot to the season will eventually come down to one thing — results — both on and off the court.
“The ability and the option to play for something bigger than yourself, a lot of guys would sign up for that 10 times out of 10,” Brown said.