Jaylen Brown on Activism: Athletes Should 'Do More Than Not Give a F--K'
Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown has called upon athletes to be more active in drawing attention to wider social justice issues.
In an interview with Michael Pina for GQ, Brown explained that he sees protesting as a "productive way to get things done" before talking about how prominent athletes can help effect change:
"I think part of being an athlete comes with the fact that you have influence, you have responsibility, and you have a platform, and a lot of times people make it seem like it's okay to run away from that. And I would challenge that. I'm not saying everybody has to live their life squeaky-clean, to not make any mistakes, because that's not realistic. I'm not telling you to be perfect, but just do more than not give a fuck. That's all I'm saying."
Sports have never been fully divorced from the social climate in which they operate or the politics of the current moment. That has remained true in recent months when Americans across the country began protesting after the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.
Brown, a native of Marietta, Georgia, traveled 15 hours in May to participate in one such protest in Atlanta:
Two-time All-Star Isaiah Thomas, who spent a season with Brown in Boston, spoke highly of the 24-year-old's impact away from the court.
"He's gonna make change, like real change, and he's not just there to talk," Thomas told Pina. "He's there to be part of it and to keep speaking about things so they don't go unnoticed."
Social justice was a significant focus when the NBA restarted its season and the WNBA got its 2020 campaign underway. When players refused to play as a form of protest following the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha police in August, the NBA also worked with the National Basketball Players Association to make a series of commitments to social justice. Among those was turning privately owned arenas or team facilities into large voting centers for the 2020 election and establishing a social justice coalition.
Ahead of the NBA's original resumption in July, Brown told reporters he initially had reservations about the plan for a variety of reasons. However, he determined that traveling to Orlando, Florida, would continue to allow him a platform to "[inspire] and [spread] light on things that are getting dimmed."
