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CHICAGO — Jaylen Brown doesn’t mind becoming a meme.
His theory on why other stars don’t participate in All-Star Weekend’s Slam Dunk Contest happened to him to some degree. Many ridiculed Brown’s performance, the crowd booed him over the scores that sent him to the finals, then he fell to G-Leaguer Mac McClung.
“F*** it. I’ll do it again,” Brown said at shootaround on Thursday. “I don’t really care (about) memes and stuff. Like I said, I think dunking is an art form. Obviously, I think I got more in the tank that what I displayed. I think I could perform better. I had a great time, things didn’t go as planned for whatever reason, but I thought it was a great experience for me. I had fun. That’s the bottom line for me. If they don’t have anybody to do it next year and the NBA asks me, and they want to get the views back up, I think I could redeem myself for sure.”
After All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, he spent the rest of the break in Puerto Rico meeting with government officals and other notable figures from the country and holding a basketball camp for children through his foundation. He came away inspired to begin forming more ties between different people addressing common issues around the world.
From his conversations with officials and Anuel AA, a Puerto Rican artist who also takes part in community work, Brown focused on education, spefically the lack of resources and opportunities for disadvantaged communities on the island. He sees collaboration as a way to make the movement stronger. Locals also told Brown that Tacko Fall will arrive soon to play on the island, so Brown stressed that they welcome him warmly.
“Most people would be like, ‘man, you only have a short amount of time, I would’ve spent that doing nothing,’” Brown said. “But the goal is to get recharged, the goal is to get refocused and find more of an ignition to get ready for the second part of the season. Nothing gives me that enthusiasm like helping other people and having conversations about making the world better. Not only was I able to enjoy the island of Puerto Rico and the warm weather, but then, touching the people, seeing how I can help and use my platform to bring more notoriety through basketball, notoriety through the community, etc. That’s the best way to recharge yourself for me. So, I thank PR for having me.”
Brown also credited Boston’s large Puerto Rican and Dominican communities as inspiration for taking interest in the region. He visited San Juan and learned about the island’s history at the capital. Brown has made education a focus through his 7UICE Foundation, hosting his contract extension press conference last summer at his annual Bridge Program for local high school students at MIT.
The Celtics beat the Bulls to tip-off the second half on Thursday and Brown marked his return from his busy break with 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting, grabbing five rebounds while generating five assists. He said he felt fine following the dunk contest, an event that can sometimes drain players. His approach didn’t aim to impress with the most physically difficult dunks, but rather showmanship that he realized the crowd might not be as impressed by. Adam Silver thanked Brown for bringing more attention to the event.
He’s now onto the second half and emphasizing flexibility as Boston finishes the season. Joe Mazzulla previewed that, noting roughly 10 things or additions to the Celtics he assessed during the All-Star break that he’ll begin implementing across the coming weeks into March.
“Be versatile, be ready, be intentional in everything that we do,” Brown said. “Have multiple lineups. Have multiple ways to guard. Have multiple ways to score the ball and be ready for whatever any team throws at us. Have a solution for everything. It takes sacrifice, it takes being able to be ready, being able to be mature. All of those things. Just be ready for whatever happens. We don’t want to be surprised.”
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