Jaylen Brown Speaks Out On Recent 'Inhumane Events': 'I Got Nothing Basketball To Talk About'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown has always approached his place in the public eye as being someone who's much more than just a basketball player. Still young at just 24 years old, Brown has taken a significant step over the past year in becoming an outspoken voice against racial injustices in the United States.
Brown took Monday night as an opportunity to do so, when he spoke to the media after the Celtics' 116-115 win in Portland. He was asked about the recent police shooting in Minnesota -- what the police called an accidental discharge of a firearm, which left Daunte Wright dead -- as well as the voter suppression situation in his native Georgia.
"Yeah, you're going to have to pardon me. I know that we're here to talk about basketball, but I got nothing basketball to talk about," Brown said. "Inhumane events have recently made headlines over the past week, last month, 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 is capable of."
A native of Marietta, Georgia, Brown used his platform to speak to young people who may be feeling devalued by society.
"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 had value before I played for the Celtics, and it will long after."
Brown said that in the face of another Black man killed by police during a routine traffic stop, there's only one proper response: standing up and fighting.
"At some point, you realize what you're dealing with," he said. "The power has and always will be with the people. You gotta stand up and fight. What other solution do we have? That's really all I got. See you guys later."