Jaylen Brown drives 15 hours to participate in Atlanta protests
Boston Celtics emerging star Jaylen Brown took part in the protests in Atlanta on Saturday.
Brown, who is from Marietta, Georgia, felt it was important for him to join his community and participate peacefully in a protest. He said he wanted to bring attention to injustices, like the death of George Floyd.
Brown said that being famous did not preclude him from joining and showing that he is feeling what others are feeling.
Jaylen Brown said on his live Instagram video that he drove 15 hours from Boston to take part in the peaceful march he’s in right now in Atlanta. Here is what he said on that livestream about why he chose to do so: pic.twitter.com/JYVIeVCU1u
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) May 30, 2020
Here was his message on Instagram Live:
Jaylen Brown on his IG live from Atlanta: "Being a celebrity, being an NBA player doesn't exclude me from no conversation at all. First and foremost I'm a black man and I grew up on this soil.” pic.twitter.com/7pD09VYouk
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) May 30, 2020
Jaylen Brown joined the protest in Atlanta:
(via @FCHWPO) pic.twitter.com/j4xXj16sAZ
— ESPN (@espn) May 30, 2020
The 23-year-old is in his fourth season with the Celtics. He was having the best season of his career prior to the league’s season being suspended and was averaging 20.4 points per game, earning the big contract extension he signed last year.
Another athlete, an Ohio State basketball player, was actually detained while participating in Columbus protests.