PORTLAND, Ore. – Jaylen Brown wanted nothing to do with any discussion about the Celtics’ thrilling 116-115 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday at Moda Center.
Instead, Brown, one of the league’s more thoughtful and poignant voices on social issues, wanted to discuss the recent events in Minneapolis following the death of Daunte Wright at the hands of police on April 11.
Brown was asked about that incident and the recent voting bill in his native Georgia: ”Yeah you’re going to have to pardon me. I know we’re here to talk about basketball but I got nothing basketball to talk about.
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“The main events that have recently made headlines over the past week, last months, last years, and at this point we shouldn’t be pleading or persuading people to see things for what they are. We know what this system is and we know what it’s capable of,” Brown said.
He continued by addressing anyone who may feel threatened, anxious, or uncertain about their welfare after the killing of 20-year-old Wright.
“If you’re watching this, listening, or tuning in, I just want you to know that your life has value, so much value, but they’re trying so hard to make you feel otherwise,” Brown said. “My life has value. My life has value before I played for the Celtics and it will long after.
“At some point you realize what you’re dealing with. The power has and always will be with the people. We gotta stand up and fight, is the other solution that we have. That’s really all I got. See you guys later.”
Brown did not take any other questions and then left the Zoom desk near the team’s locker room.
Brown, who is on the executive committee of the NBA Players Association, has become one of the league’s more outspoken players on social issues and spent many of his media sessions in the NBA bubble last year discussing pressing issues such as police brutality and voter suppression.
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Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.