Jaylen Brown Reportedly Begged Celtics To Play In Summer League
BOSTON (CBS) -- Considering Jaylen Brown played a fairly significant number of minutes in his rookie year after being selected No. 3 overall in the 2016 NBA Draft, it was a fair question to wonder why he was participating in the team's summer league games this year.
As it turns out, the decision was all Brown's.
In an article for The Undefeated about Brown organizing a gathering for the young NBA players gathered in Las Vegas, Marc J. Spears revealed Brown's desire to play in the summer league games.
"Brown begged to be allowed to play on the Celtics' summer league team in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas despite it not being mandatory," Spears wrote.
"I just wanted to play," Brown said.
Brown led the Utah portion of the summer league with 10.5 rebounds per game while also ranking fifth with 17.5 points per game. He's taken a step back with just 12 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in the Vegas portion, but after starting 20 NBA games last year and getting regular playing time for a team that went to the conference finals, his mere presence at the summer league is a positive sign for Brown's eagerness to improve.
Spears also shared this interesting information about the 20-year-old Brown:
He also is an avid chess player, loves vegetarian food, is learning Spanish and how to play a guitar, interned with a venture capitalist while preparing for the draft, is a fan of NBA history and writes advice he receives from mentors in a journal. Hingeto, a website that enables fashion brands to crowdfund designs, is aiding Brown with starting an online hoops gear store with his own brand, a source said.
Brown has dreams of being a future president of the NBPA. The position is currently held by Houston Rockets veteran guard Chris Paul.
Clearly, Brown is a young player with big plans. For now, the plan is to maximize his time to improve this summer. Even if that means playing in the summer league.
