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Jaylen Brown Opening Press Conference Takeaways, Notes, and Quotes
By Sean Barnard
Published:
Jaylen Brown is officially a member of the Philadelphia 76ers.
While LeBron James mania has dominated the headlines since the blockbuster deal, Brown is the pillar that made that addition possible and will be a foundational part of this Sixers season and beyond. The former Celtics star met with the Philadelphia media at his opening press conference, held at Francis J. Myers Recreation Center, and offered a window into his mindset during this career-altering offseason. He commanded the room with confidence, carried himself with a presence, and his intelligence jumps out at you when listening to him speak.
Jaylen Brown’s Community-Oriented Mentality is Authentic
While each circumstance is different, it is generally common practice for this type of introductory press conference to take place at the team’s facility. By Brown’s request, this event took place at the Francis J. Myers Recreation Center in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Southwest Philly.
“For me and the people who know my family and I,” Brown stated, “We are rooted in the community. That’s base. That’s where we hang our hat is being able to affect other people’s lives. I think we are very blessed. I think we’ve been able to help our own family and kind of change the course of what our generation or our family name could possibly do. But we look forward to being able to impact others and being able to touch families and households that we may never get to see. Being here at Francis J, as I’m sill getting to learn this community, I just want to make it (known) that this is an important pillar in my life.”
Plenty of players make comments of this ilk, but Brown deserves credit for walking the walk the way he did in Boston across the 10 years he spent there. He invested millions of dollars in a non-profit initiative called the Boston XChange, whose aim is to generate $5 billion in new wealth for historically marginalized communities by providing capital, workspaces, and resources to different business owners and creators. He also created the 7uice Foundation in 2019, aimed at providing opportunities to address education gaps for the youth in underserved communities. This includes entrepreneurship programs, leadership development, and financial literacy education programs. Part of the reason for the delay in this press conference occurring was Brown being committed to work in the community that was already planned and him sticking to these obligations.
“I just wanted to let the people know in Philadelphia that this is something that is important to me, and my first introduction to the city through my press conference today is just an example of that. I am happy to be here, and thank you to the community for allowing me to be here and hold my space here. But I’m looking forward to learning the community, meeting some people, some like-minded individuals, and doing some work. So that’s what we’re about.”
Don’t Confuse Honesty With Unhappiness
One of the more interesting factors in Brown’s transition from Boston to Philadelphia has been the public forum it has played out on. Beyond the trade rumors and reports being more readily available than any other time in history, Brown put the spotlight on himself by streaming on Twitch and talking through his emotions starting just about immediately after the deal was announced. He explained that part of his motivation for these types of livestream settings is so his thoughts can be explained clearly and as he intends, as opposed to being made public through published quotes from reporters.
“My relationship with the media hasn’t always been the best,” Brown explained. “That’s part of the reason I started streaming and stuff like that.”
In a refreshing way compared to the way most athletes handle themselves, Brown talked honestly through his feeling during the transition for how strange it is for him during a July 3rd livestream.
“For the last 10 years, I’ve been programmed to hate Philadelphia,” he said. “From the history of the rivalry to the playoff battles, I’ve been programmed to be like, ‘[expletive] the process.’ Now I gotta reverse engineer, that’s the part that’s going to take some time.”
Brown told the media today he threw his phone across the room when he first heard the news of being traded.
He elaborated to say, “It’s been a lot of emotions. You know what I mean? It’s been a process. To be honest, I’m still processing to some degree. Just, you know, one the excitement of coming to a new city, a new place, new expectations, new energy. Then also leaving somewhere where you’ve been for a very, very long time. Like I’ve been in Boston for 10 years. I’m 29 years old, so I was there a third of my life. You know, I met some people, some lifelong friends, some people I’ll still be connected to. But you know, in anything that you are starting something new, it’s an end of something else. So it’s just a process.”
There is Real Beef With the Celtics’ Organization
There was a decent contingent of Boston media at the press conference attempting to further get Brown to expand on his frustrations during his exit from the organization. He was asked to elaborate on some comments made on his Twitch about the lack of respect he was shown from the Celtics organization.
“The whole process,” Brown started. “But to be honest, my mind is so focused on what’s in front of me. I’m moving on. Maybe one day you share the details and how everything transpired and all the moving parts that took place in this. Obviously there is a lot of speculation. I feel no need to chime in on that because I’m focused on what’s in front of me.”
When pressed to reflect on his time with the Celtics, he notably shifted the answer to talk about his appreciation for the city of Boston and everything it meant to him. He was asked to describe his relationship with Jayson Tatum and asked if that was a partnership both wanted to continue before the news of the trade.
“We won a championship together. So anybody that you win a championship, you would think like that’s what a brotherhood or a lifelong legacy would entail. Obviously, there’s ups and downs with any type of relationship for sure. But on my end, it’s nothing but respect. You know, besides when he plays the Sixers. I hope he does well. But other than that, everything for me is just based in respect.”
Brown was asked directly if the two have talked since the trade occurred and replied, “Not really.”
From afar, it has been interesting to watch the Brown/Tatum dynamic since both players came into the league. There were very legitimate talks about how the duo needed to be broken up before they got over the championship hump. It has felt pretty clear that Tatum has always been viewed as the franchise face despite Brown being drafted a season earlier and earning Finals MVP when the team did hoist the trophy. There is certainly a fair argument that Tatum is the better overall player, but it has always felt strange to me just how clearly this point was made across the board.
In the larger scale of the conversation, it is absolutely awesome that Brown has animosity toward Tatum and the Celtics’ front office. Part of the reason why the trade was so surprising is that Boston sent him to a team that will be a direct hurdle in achieving their postseasons aspirations for years to come. The Sixers completed a 3-1 comeback to eliminate the Celtics this past postseason, and now Brown will be suiting up with the opposite uniform on moving forward. The five-time All-Star deserves credit for pretty masterfully dancing around saying anything too bulletin board worthy for this rival squad, but the feelings behind his comments felt pretty clear.
Jaylen Brown Knows What It Takes to Win
Bringing in a guy that finished sixth in MVP voting last year while posting averages of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists is an obvious upgrade in itself. But perhaps even more impactful than any offensive skill or defensive impact is his knowledge of what it takes to win. This is a star player who has made the playoffs in nine of his 10 seasons in the NBA, has a championship ring on his finger, and a Finals MVP to his name. Brown has more total wins across the regular season and playoffs than any other player in the league since he entered the NBA. This level of success has been a lesson for the 29-year-old and has provided the motivation for more.
“My focus is on winning,” Brown stated. “At this point in my career, nothing else really moves me. Like I don’t really care about the outside success. I never did. I don’t care about the MVP awards or Finals MVP. None of that stuff really moves me. It’s nice, but the only thing that’s going to move me is doing something collectively, so a championship. So that’s what I’m looking forward to, trying to start that journey in building towards. But you know, all the other stuff that comes along with it is just a distraction to me. Like whatever it takes on a night-to-night basis is whatever it takes.”
Brown also made it clear to dispel the concerns about this star-studded lineup and the flawed ‘there is only one ball’ concerns. He was asked about joining a team with established stars and the notion of ‘whose team’ this could be.
“It doesn’t have to be anybody’s team. It just needs to be based in respect and work, and that’s kind of like my approach. I want to earn everyone’s respect and trust, which takes time. You know what I mean? Obviously it’s a lot of guys with talent and some egos, but to win gotta be able to sacrifice, you gotta be able to have trust and communication. So I want to come in transparent. I want to come in with my agenda on the table. Look, this is what I’m here to do. This is what I want to do. I want to win, and we can kind of figure out how to respectfully move around each other. It takes a level of time to develop and earn respect from each other. But my approach has always been my work ethic.”
He also made it clear that the level of success the team aspires to cannot be accomplished on paper.
“On paper we’re excellent. So we have a lot of talent compared to other teams in the league. But I’ve been around a long time, long enough to know that just what you have on paper don’t really mean nothing… It can, if you put the work in. But it also, if you allow distractions, if you allow the media to get into your locker room, if you allow certain things and personalities don’t work it could be a detriment. So I’m aware that you know, it could go either way. It just takes the amount of work and the transparency and the leadership can really guide this thing or not. So for me I’m just focused on that. How can I lead with my heart, lead with my work, my mentality? Obviously on paper we look great, but let’s all slow down and take the real work every single day in order to make something like this happen.”
The Sixers have failed to reach the championship pinnacle they’ve aspired to across this entire era. In many cases, it has not been an issue with talent, and having guys that are wired with the knowledge of what it takes to win is a big deal. This is especially noteworthy with both Brown and LeBron James.
While the work is just beginning and actions mean much more than words, it is impossible not to be impressed with the way that Brown presented himself in his first opportunity in front of the Sixers media. A new era in Sixers’ basketball has begun, and expectations are different this season than has been the case in quite some time.
As Brown likes to say himself, throw the ball up.
Sean Barnard has covered the Philadelphia 76ers and general Philly Sports for over six years in a variety of roles and for multiple outlets. Currently works as a Content Writer for DraftKings Network, Sixers/NBA Insider for Philadelphia's Fox Sports the Gambler, and co-host of Sixers & Phillies Digest on Youtube. Forever Trusting the Process.