Jaylen Brown Wants Celtics To Protest President Trump's Comments As A Team
BOSTON (AP/CBS) -- The Boston Celtics are counting on Jaylen Brown to become a leader on the court in his second NBA season.
We'll see if he takes those steps in the coming months, but it sounds like the 20-year-old is already becoming a leader off of the floor. At Celtics Media Day on Monday, Brown told reporters that he has talked to the rest of the team about protesting President Trump's comments about athletes. Brown said he's also spoken to Celtics general manager Danny Ainge and "he's all for that."
"I think basketball and athletes have a tremendous opportunity with our platform to do something about it," said Brown, according to the Boston Globe.
The president complained about football players taking a knee during the national anthem to protest racial inequality and said NFL owners should fire them. The league responded on Sunday with a much wider protest that included condemnations by owners and more than 200 players taking knees during the anthem, including roughly 20 members of the New England Patriots. Other teams locked arms, sometimes with their owners and coaches.
Brown said it's "unconstitutional" for the president to tell athletes not to exercise their first amendment rights, and that he wants the Celtics to find a way to protest as a team because "our voices are stronger together."
"I think ultimately, we as the Celtics organization support our guys and their right to take a stand and protest peacefully and promote positive change," added C's head coach Brad Stevens.
Prior to preseason games in 2016, the Celtics linked arms during the national anthem as a sign of unity on the team.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
