Boston Celtics
Brown sat down with Anthony Anderson and touched on a range of topics.
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Jaylen Brown made an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Thursday night, where he was interviewed by actor Anthony Anderson.
The pair touched on a range of topics including Brown’s thoughts on the trade that sent him to Philadelphia, how overcame his fear of heights to go skydiving in Egypt, and an educational goal that might bring him back to Massachusetts one day.
Brown was asked if he thought the Celtics made a smart move by trading him for Paul George and draft assets.
“I was a little disappointed how it all went down, but to answer your question, I guess we’ll find out,” Brown said.
Local elementary schooler Giovani Jean’s reaction to the trade went viral. Brown later comforted the young fan at his Bridge Boston program at M.I.T. Jean gave Brown a handwritten letter and received a hug from the Celtics star.
“That’s my little bro,” Brown said. “I’ve been to numerous schools in the Boston area just to encourage the students to do well. I’ve been to Gio’s elementary school a few times and he’s truly a star. He stands out. He’s so intelligent, so kind, so personable.”
“So, when the video came out, my family sent his family a message like don’t worry about it, don’t cry. It’s going to be alright. We’re always going to be friends and I’ll always check up on you. So, he’s doing better now.”
Brown spent a year at University of California at Berkeley before declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft. He said that he hopes to go back to school and study astrophysics at M.I.T. one day.
“I just love the stars,” Brown said. “I’ve always loved astronomy. Me and my grandpa shared that love. So, it would be great if M.I.T. would have me, I would love to enroll, but we’ll see. We’ll take it one step at a time and hopefully we’ll make it happen.”
Brown will turn 30 in October. He said his decision to go skydiving in Egypt this offseason was part of wrapping up his twenties.
“My 20s are gone so I wanted to do something to encapsulate my 20s so I was like I’m going to skydive over the pyramids.”
“I’m afraid of heights by the way. I was scared out of my mind,” Brown said. “Sometimes in life you’re going to be scared. Going into my thirties I wanted to just attack my fears. I didn’t want to go into my thirties afraid of heights anymore.”
Celtics legend Rajon Rondo recently said that a “pissed off” Brown who feels disrespected by the way things went down with the Celtics could be “scary” for the NBA this season.
The 76ers already had all-stars Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, along with All-Rookie First-Team selection V.J. Edgecombe. They’ve since added Brown and LeBron James.
“We’ve got a lot of talent,” Brown said. “We’ve got a great opportunity and I want to make it work so I’m looking forward to it.”
Khari A. Thompson
Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
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