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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.”
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.”
“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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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.
“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.”
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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.
“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.
“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.”