BOSTON — By the start of the fourth quarter, the drama of the NBA Finals was over. The Boston Celtics led by 20 points and it was clear they were going to win their record 18th title. The only remaining drama was who would be the NBA Finals MVP: Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown.
Here we go again.
Fans and media have had this debate since the two became teammates seven years ago, and the debate will likely continue until either leaves Boston. If it was just one game, Tatum would have gotten the nod. He was terrific on Monday, scoring a game-high 31 points, grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 11 assists. Brown scored 21 points with 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
But it wasn’t just one game. Brown dominated throughout the Finals, averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5 assists. On defense, Brown was the primary defender for Dallas’ scoring machine Luka Dončić. As Dončić scored, Brown’s tenacity took its toll.
When NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Brown as the 2024 Bill Russell Finals MVP, Brown and his mother, Mechalle Brown, were overcome with emotion. They embraced – eyes closed, tears streaming – so many memories of the hard journey to get here, running through their minds. Brown later told reporters that during his pregame nap, he dreamed that his grandmother gave him a hug. “I just knew everything was going to be OK,” he said.
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When he was named MVP of the Eastern Conference finals in May, Brown said he was surprised. After Monday’s game, I asked Brown if he was surprised to be named NBA Finals MVP. Instead, he talked about his team.
“I can’t put my emotions into words,” he said. “I’m blessed. I’m grateful, it was a complete team effort. My teammates were great, they allowed me to lead us on both sides of the ball, they came out and just played on our field. It was incredible.”
He brought up the award win over Tatum. “You know, it could have gone either way, it could have gone to Jayson,” he said. “I can’t speak highly enough of his selflessness. I can’t speak highly enough of his attitude. It’s just the way he approaches, not just this series or the Finals, but just the playoffs in general and we did it together as a team. And that was the most important thing.
Tatum was equally gracious: “Well deserved, extremely happy for him,” he said. “It’s quite an accomplishment. The main goal for us was to win a championship. We didn’t care who got the Finals MVP. I know I need him and he needs me.
On my line of greatness, Brown is the MVP for reasons that have little to do with numbers and a lot to do with energy, impact and much-needed determination – on and off the court. Whether it’s boxer Muhammad Ali, baseball player and activist Curt Flood, tennis legend Wilma Rudolph, Olympic protesters Tommie Smith and John Carlos or former quarterback Colin Kaepernick, my measure of greatness of African-American athletes is never about knockouts, home runs, races. fast or jumping high. It’s about how one uses fame and visibility to advance the cause of justice, respect and freedom outside of the arena.
Brown is MVP worthy, but beyond that, he is and will be an important voice for change in a league whose players seem to have become complacent and complacent.
Not long ago, black athletes in particular had become such formidable forces for change that the then-president of the United States implored team owners to win them over. Conservative commentators, annoyed that athletes were using their visibility to raise social justice issues, told them to shut up and drool.
Brown drove 15 hours from Boston to Georgia in May 2020 to lead a peaceful protest in Atlanta to demand justice and an end to police brutality following the police killing of George Floyd. His 7uice Foundation is designed to combat systemic racism by closing the opportunity gap for youth in traditionally underserved Black and Brown communities.
The elevated status of NBA champion and Finals MVP will expand Brown’s influence in the league and encourage him to become active in a volatile political climate where every voice counts.
In the post-Kaepernick world of sports, athletes must come out of hiding and take a stand. Brown, at 27, is the ideal person to usher in a new era of sports activism.
“I’m hopeful for Jaylen,” Ameer Loggins said last week when we talked about his former student at Cal. “I think he has convictions and I hope his convictions and intentions will strengthen his actions.”
When Brown and I met a few years ago during the NBA Finals, he made a reference to Loggins. Brown said it was Loggins who suggested he read my book, Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Black Athletes, as part of the course he taught on the representation of black people in the media. Among others, Kaepernick, whose kneeling protest got him kicked out of the NFL, also took the course.
Loggins first met Brown during his freshman year at Cal, although Brown didn’t take the course until after he was drafted by the Celtics.
“He came to audit my class for part of the summer when he was already in the NBA,” Loggins recalled. “He would just come back and say, ‘Yo, I want to learn more things.’ So I said to myself, “Pull up.” I have a pull-up policy. If you want to stop and gain knowledge, you can come to my class.
Although Brown left Cal after a year, he made the most of his time on campus and developed connections with several professors who became mentors. One of those professors was Hardy Frye, a former member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and one of the first black students to graduate from Cal. “Professor Frye had a big influence on Jaylen when he was on campus,” Loggins said. “So Jaylen had a good group of people around him. »
Just as Brown helped galvanize the Celtics into a championship team, Loggins believes Brown can reignite the passion for activism among athletes.
“I think what happened with Colin may have discouraged a lot of people,” Loggins said.
Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
Although we encourage celebrities and athletes to use their so-called platforms, celebrities can have limits. Money and fame are often not liberating but limiting. It’s a point that Nation of Islam Minister Malcolm spokespersons and leaders. Their endorsements and commercial affiliations can become handcuffs.
Although Brown has complained that his activism may have cost him marketing and sponsorship opportunities, perhaps not being tied to a corporate sponsor is so bad.
“The problem with people who actually seek liberation is that they often disconnect from systems of oppression and don’t work for them,” Loggins said.
“I think in the case of Jaylen and the athletes moving forward, it’s important that they actually use their platform, at least, to show that they’re willing to speak out on behalf of important issues.”
In July 2023, Brown signed a five-year, $303.7 million extension. His challenge will be to use his wealth to become more of a man of the people, not less. Brown’s track record suggests his roots in the community will only deepen.
“As long as you’re willing to ground yourself in the world of those who are struggling, you don’t put yourself above them,” Loggins said. “Therefore, you can be used as a tool for them.
“The moment you think you shouldn’t be around people, that’s the moment you lose your mind. Often the cult of fame elevates you to the point where you are so far removed from people that you are no longer familiar to them.”
Loggins met Brown when he was a teenager, eager to make his mark, not only as an athlete but also as a conscious African American committed to wrestling.
I asked Loggins what he would like to see from his former student over the next five to 10 years.
“I don’t want Jaylen to change, but I always want him to evolve,” he said. “I want Jaylen to remain the Jaylen that he is, which has led him to be the curious person, who has the heart, who is willing to stand up for things in a time when some people are afraid to do so.”
On Monday, Brown became the NBA Finals MVP. Perhaps in the years to come, he will also become the MVP of a revitalized black athlete activist movement.