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In epic ‘Hot Ones' episode, Jaylen Brown talks C's ‘Killer Whale' offense, love of chess

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In epic ‘Hot Ones' episode, Jaylen Brown talks C's ‘Killer Whale' offense, love of chess


Fresh off the cover of TIME, Jaylen Brown is continuing to prove that he’s one of the NBA’s most interesting players. The 27-year-old, who helped the Boston Celtics win their 18th championship in June, recently tackled hot questions and even hotter wings in his “Hot Ones” appearance in which he said “technology is dope” and that one of the best things about his life is that he learned how to play chess.

Hot Ones host Sean Evans asked Brown a series of questions as the star shooting guard and small forward completed rounds of eating chicken wings coated in spicy hot sauce — we should note that he did not take a sip of the water or milk that was provided; though he did inquire as to whether previous contestants needed water, showing that his competitive spirit extends beyond the court.

Brown acknowledged he doesn’t do too many podcasts or talk too much in interviews but that he knows there’s been a lot out there about him this summer — from the Stephen A. drama to the Olympics snub.

“Some of the narratives kind of float, and I allowed them to float, but going forward I look forward to like clearing up some misconceptions and addressing some things in the past,” said Brown, who wore a ‘State your source’ t-shirt at Boston’s championship parade. “Maybe Stephen A. and I will have a sit-down at some point and hash things out.”

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But the focus is also on basketball right now. With the preseason upon us (the Celtics got off on the right foot Friday in Abu Dhabi), Boston is getting ready to defend their championship, and Brown said the team’s mindset is about fighting complacency.

“I think the pressure and the expectation level needs to be raised,” he told Evans. “Human nature kind of sneaks in once you win, and makes you kind of relax.”

One of the key people in helping his team on that quest is head coach Joe Mazzulla, who has become known for some bizarre metaphors on occasion.

As an example, Brown said, “One of Coach Mazzulla’s favorite things is like ‘there’s no such thing as a foul. Either you die or you don’t.”

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“He just has a bunch of like crazy quotes and mentality, like one of the things he’s coined is like we call our offense like the killer whale offense and we attack seals, cause killer whales like how they hunt seals, and we study like how killer whales attack as a unit and then we built our offense kind of like off killer whales,” Brown expanded. “So Joe definitely has a bunch of crazy stuff but there’s a method to his madness and obviously it works.”

From Mazzulla’s madness to Brown’s favorite philosopher — Tupac or Socrates — the Celtics star covered a wide range of topics in this particular interview, including the importance of technology, and the pros and cons of advanced statistics.

“I think technology is a great way to make the world more efficient. I definitely think ethics is something that should be maintained as technology advances because there’s no governance as we continue to make new things but technology is dope,” Brown said. “I’m super into it and I cant wait to be able to give it to communities that can benefit the most from it.”

Brown thinks the crossover between sports and technology, with analytics and data definitely leads to good results, but he says that he’s still a big believer in just the feel of a situation.

“I’m a big feel guy,” he said. “I trust the numbers but if a guy is hot or if a guy’s got it going, like the numbers and system it don’t matter. You gotta feed the hot hand so it’s just a balance and some people have better feels than others.”

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Celtics star Jaylen Brown launched Boston XChange, a nonprofit he wants to spur economic growth in traditionally under-invested communities.

Brown, who is somewhat of a history buff, said he has trouble choosing who is the NBA’s most historical figure but he offered up a few names, including a Celtics icon.

“Of course you’d go Michael Jordan for his marketability and how he globalized the game especially during that Olympic timeframe, but you can also say from a cultural standpoint,” Brown started off. “Allen Iverson, and just him integrating culture which is so influential between music, sport, art, fashion, and how he represented like that, that urbanist of basketball.”

“Kobe Bryant and his mentality and how that translated from generation to generation and that’s going to continue to translate,” Brown continued. “Steph Curry influence on his generation. You see how the game is played now, it’s all threes.”

Lastly, Brown pointed out Bill Russell.

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“Not just in sports, being the most winningest player, but how he seen his influence beyond an athlete or an entertainer. A lot of guys just want to keep it sports and basketball, but I think our value, our influence goes beyond and it depends if we want to use it or not, that’s it.”

Brown, who is already using his own influence to go beyond basketball, talked about the importance of self expression, saying, “I always encourage people to do what makes them feel the most expressive. We’re born to kind of stand out, so don’t be afraid to be unique, don’t be afraid to be yourself and don’t be afraid to think for yourself, that’s most important.”

Boston Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown just revealed his new sneaker. Here’s what the name of his new brand, 741, means; how Brown got here after falling out with Nike; and what people around Boston think of the shoe so far.

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Brown, who was selected by the Celtics with the third overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, was asked if he remembers his first “welcome to the NBA moment” — and he certainly does.

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“When that first check hits your bank account, you know, welcome,” he revealed. “That was my welcome cause like I told them to mail it to me so I could just feel it and touch it, I wanted to see my first check. I wanted to feel it in my hand. The first check I got was like $182,000 or something like that, and I remember seeing that as an 18-year-old coming from a single parent household, I was like alright, welcome to the NBA.”

Since that moment, Brown has certainly found more success in the league and now has one of the largest contracts in NBA history. The three-time NBA All-Star said his all-time favorite NBA buzzer beater is definitely in last season’s finals.

“Game 3, we were in Dallas. We were up 2-0, and they were storming back, like the Mavericks got hot. Kyrie started going crazy, like one minute, I feel like I hit a shot that kind of halted their momentum and kind of helped us carry out and get the win,” he shared. “That was this year and I think that ultimately help us get the championship.”

Brown also discussed his unique take on scouting other players, likening it all to “poetry in motion.”

“Being an elite defender you gotta study guys rhythm, there’s a rhythm and a cadence to how some people play, so if you see like certain guys they play to a certain beat, to a certain cadence. They play a certain style and if you know their style you can time what they’re gonna do next because you know the rhythm and the [beats per minute] that they kinda play at,” Brown said.

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“Luka [Doncic] has a unique rhythm. It’s almost so slow that it’s hard to time. Kyrie [Irving] has a unique rhythm as well, very one of one, so his moves and his cadences is sometimes very, very hard to time he has a lot of counter moves like he can go and pivot off both feet, he can shoot with both hands, he can drive both directions which makes his rhythm a lot harder to track. Some guys only go right, some guys only go left, some guys have two moves that they go to. So I look at basketball as like poetry in motion, which is music, and everybody is playing their own song you know, and everybody samples from different artists, and they playing their own song and if you wanna stop them you gotta study their rhythm. You gotta learn when their beat is about to drop.”

It’s a unique perspective from someone who was the captain of his middle school chess team and loves the game to this day.

“I was a big gambit guy, I think one of the best things about my life is that I learned the game of chess,” Brown said. “Depending on what gambit, what trap or what style of play, you’re thinking about the end in the beginning, and in life, I like to encourage more to do the same, like think about the beginning and the end, like what is your mission? What is your purpose? What do you want your legacy to be? And you start to play the game based upon how you want to finish.”

The Celtics may be far off from this feat but many are already looking ahead to the end of the 2024-2025 season, hoping Boston can defend their title. Brown says the C’s will win back-to-back NBA finals if they stay healthy.

“Looking forward to this upcoming season,” he said. “Make sure you stop and see a game.”

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Red Sox rotation contender strikes out four in dominant outing

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Red Sox rotation contender strikes out four in dominant outing


FORT MYERS, Fla. — Johan Oviedo’s first outing of the spring last week didn’t go great, as the right-hander walked three over 1 2/3 innings in a performance manager Alex Cora described as “erratic.”

His second outing on Monday went much better.



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Monster effort from Neemias Queta helps pave the way for Celtics in win over 76ers – The Boston Globe

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Monster effort from Neemias Queta helps pave the way for Celtics in win over 76ers – The Boston Globe


Queta has been a revelation for the Celtics this season and helped them improbably surge into second place in the Eastern Conference. But it is unlikely he or his team envisioned nights like Sunday, when he crafted the best game of his career to propel Boston to a 114-98 win over the 76ers at TD Garden, its 11th in 13 games.

The 26-year-old center finished with 27 points and 17 rebounds and received ‘MVP’ chants several times in the fourth quarter.

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“I thought he’s had great ownership and responsibility to what it calls for to be a starting center for the Celtics, and he’s got to continue to get better,” Mazzulla said. “He works at it. He cares. So, it’s a credit to him.”

The Celtics, who entered the night averaging 17.1 second-chance points per game, poured in 30 Sunday, with Queta leading the charge. With 76ers center Andre Drummond often playing up and trying to congest the lanes for Boston’s talented ballhandlers, Queta forcefully and quickly found space around the rim.

“We just gave him the ball and trusted him to make the right decision every time, and he was able to get it going,” forward Jaylen Brown said. “He had some nice up-and-unders in the seam and stuff like that that helped propel us to a win.”

Brown added 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists for Boston.

Tyrese Maxey had 33 points to lead the 76ers, but they did not come easily. The All-Star guard played 43 minutes and made just 12 of 34 shots. Philadelphia was without star center Joel Embiid (oblique).

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“He didn’t have a ton of layups, didn’t have a ton of free throws,” Mazzulla said of Maxey. “I thought he obviously missed some good shots, but when you have the ball as much as he did, I thought we did a really good job just being disciplined, defending without fouling, keeping him out of transition.”

The Celtics improved to 40-20, with just 22 games remaining in the regular season. After the game, there was a visible reminder of what could be on the way.

Star forward Jayson Tatum, who could be nearing a return from last May’s Achilles injury, sat at his locker and laughed and joked with team staffers. He also posted the latest clip from the NBC docuseries about his comeback on his social media accounts.

Jayson Tatum, who has yet to play this season, liked what he saw from the Celtics bench.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff

For now, of course, the Celtics continue to plow forward without him. On Sunday, Boston quickly wiped away an early 10-point deficit behind Queta. He registered five offensive rebounds in the opening period, and flashed an unusual amount of offensive creativity during his dominant second quarter.

During one stretch, he danced through the lane for a basket, converted a putback, then dazzled the crowd by trailing a fast break, taking a pass from Brown, and converting an acrobatic scoop shot that gave Boston a 40-35 lead.

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“We don’t want him to get too carried away with some of those,” Brown said, smiling. “But he was converting them tonight and it looked good.”

Queta reminded everyone that much of his value comes from his defensive work when he swatted a Kelly Oubre Jr. shot out of bounds, and he received a rare standing ovation when he checked out moments later.

Neemias Queta’s performance put a smile on Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff

Finally, after a well-executed two-for-one opportunity, Brown found Baylor Scheierman, who played with a splint on his broken left thumb, in the right corner; he hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave Boston a 62-50 lead at the break. Scheierman gave a high thumbs-up with his bandaged digit.

The Celtics led by 16 early in the third quarter, but the 76ers continued to push back. Three-pointers in the final minute by Quentin Grimes and Maxey made it 89-83 at the start of the fourth.

The 76ers trailed by 6 with four minutes left in the fourth quarter but missed their next five shots, any one of which could have put real pressure on Boston.

With 2:56 left, Queta converted a layup as he was fouled, stretching the lead back to 105-97. He received ‘MVP’ chants for the second time in the quarter when he went to the foul line. Then, with 1:56 left, he put an exclamation point on his memorable night by grabbing yet another offensive rebound and throwing down a two-handed dunk that made it 109-98.

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“I thought Neemi matched and exceeded the [76ers] physicality,” Mazzulla said.

Jaylen Brown has become the leader of the Celtics while Tatum has been away. Will Tatum returning cause locker-room drama?

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.





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Bruins Believe They ‘Didn’t Do Enough’ In Loss To Flyers | NESN

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Bruins Believe They ‘Didn’t Do Enough’ In Loss To Flyers | NESN


The Boston Bruins suffered a 3-1 road loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Boston entered the game in points in eight-straight games, as the Bruins are competing for a playoff spot. However, Boston’s offense struggled on Saturday, as the Bruins scored just once on Dan Vladar, and head coach Marco Sturm felt like the team didn’t do enough to create more scoring chances.

“(Vladar) played really good, he kind of made those saves he needed to,” Sturm said as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage on Saturday. “We just didn’t do enough of a good job being around him or being front of him.”

Although Sturm didn’t like Boston’s play, Vladar still made some key stops when the game was close. 

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Bruins forward Morgan Geekie had multiple chances and was frustrated that he couldn’t score on any of them.

“Just one of those nights,” Geekie said. “Their goalie played well. Couldn’t quite put it in the spot I wanted to a couple times and Dan made a couple great plays.”

Boston’s lone goal came from Charlie McAvoy, while Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves on 16 shots, as Philadelphia added an empty-netter to secure the win.

With the loss, the Bruins fell to 33-21-5 and are holding onto the final Wild Card spot. Boston will return to the ice at home on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

More NHL: Charlie McAvoy’s Mother Reveals His Immediate Reaction To Team USA’s Gold Medal Win

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