|
Listen to this article here
|
Two-time NBA All-Star Jaylen Brown signed the richest deal in NBA history on Wednesday: a five-year, $304 million supermax contract extension with the Boston Celtics.
“I want to launch a project to bring Black Wall Street here in Boston. I want to attack the wealth disparity here. I think there’s analytics that supports that stimulating the wealth gap could actually be something that could be better meant for the entire economy,” Brown said at a news conference at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Brown said he wants to bring Black Wall Street to Boston, tackle the “unsettling” wealth disparity in the city and stimulate the overall economy.
“With the biggest financial deal in NBA history, it makes sense to talk about one year investment in community, but … the wealth disparity here that nobody wants to talk about is top five in the US (and) is something that we can all improve on it. It’s unsettling.
“I think through my platform, through influential partners, through selected leaders, government officials, a lot who are in this room, that we can come together and create new jobs, new resources, new businesses, new ideas that could highlight minorities but also stimulate the economy and the wealth gap at the same time.”
Brown added, “Boston could be a fully integrated self-sufficient hub. I think Boston could be the pilot, not just for wealth disparity here in the US, but also for around the world.”
When asked why the news conference took place at his “7uice Foundation’s Bridge” program and not the team’s facility, Brown said, “This is the day it fell on and I knew I was going to be here spending most of my time, so I thought it was fitting. … For it to be here, I think was just divine timing and now as we are putting the pen to paper, we got a lot of work to do. I think we’re all in that same journey to make this place, this community that we all live in, better and we all have that responsibility.”
Last season, Brown, a guard/forward, averaged a career-best 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He was named to the 2022-23 All-NBA second team. Brown, the 2016 No. 3 overall pick, was eligible for the new contract as a result of making the All-NBA team.
CNN reports Brown’s deal eclipsed the $276 million contract of Denver’s Nicola Joki?, signed in 2022, according to salary tracking website Spotrac.
In seven seasons in Beantown, the 26-year-old has helped the Celtics advance to five Eastern Conference Finals and an NBA Finals appearance in 2022.
ESPN reported the contract extension begins in the 2024-2025 season and runs through the 2028-2029 season when Brown will be 32.
His previous contract was a four-year, $106 million deal, according to Spotrac.
Jaylen Brown once drove 15 hours to lead a 2020 ATL protest
In May 2020, Brown drove 15 hours from Boston to his home state of Georgia to lead a peaceful protest in Atlanta. He put out the call on social media for people to join him, and was accompanied by a large crowd.
At the protest, Brown said: “I got brothers, I got sisters, I got friends that are in the streets, that are out here, that haven’t made it to this level, that are experiencing it — that are getting pulled over, just discrimination, day after day, dealing with the same bull—-. This is systematic.”
He continued, “We don’t have to burn down our homes. We built this city. This is the most proudly Black city in the world, the world man. So let’s take some pride in that, let’s focus our energy. Let’s enjoy this together, this is a moment. We have leverage right now. We have a moment in time. People are gonna look back, our kids are gonna look back at this and say, ‘you were a part of that.'”