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Jaylen Brown has a lot to say these days about his time in Boston and with the Boston Celtics.
The 26-year-old is a two-time NBA All-Star and part of one of the league’s most formidable duos.
But it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses. While the Celtics, led in part by Brown, have had immense success on the court, Brown has dealt with some issues (not of his own doing) away from it.
He spoke in part about those issues recently in an interview with the New York Times.
“I have, but I pretty much block it all out. It’s not the whole Celtic fan base, but it is a part of the fan base that exists within the Celtic nation that is problematic. If you have a bad game, they tie it to your personal character.
I definitely think there’s a group or an amount within the Celtic nation that is extremely toxic and does not want to see athletes use their platform, or they just want you to play basketball and entertain and go home. And that’s a problem to me.” – Celtics forward Jaylen Brown when asked if he’s experienced different treatment as black athlete in Boston
Now it appears he has even more to say. Brown sat down with Logan Murdock of The Ringer to discuss a number of topics. One of them was a rumored trade over the summer that would have sent him to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Kevin Durant.
“[KD] and JT are friends. They was working out together and whatnot,” Brown says. “So, I wasn’t sure what the energy was. I wasn’t sure what the direction of the organization was.”
Murdock then asked Brown is he wants to remain in Boston long-term. And the answer wasn’t exactly encouraging for Celtics fans.
““I don’t know. As long as I’m needed. It’s not up to me,” he says. “We’ll see how they feel about me over time and I feel about them over time. Hopefully, whatever it is, it makes sense. But I will stay where I’m wanted. I will stay where I’m needed and treated correct.”
Brown is averaging a career-high 26.7 points per game this season and made his second NBA All-Star Game appearance. If Boston doesn’t want to keep him around, a number of other teams would undoubtedly be happy to have him.