Jaylen Brown turned 24 after leaving the NBA bubble. He immediately spent time with his grandpa, Willie Brown, who had encouraged him to play with the Celtics in Orlando despite his cancer diagnosis. There, he honed in on his off-court advocacy by getting in touch with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Program. He had spoken out on social justice, the American political system and police brutality early in his career, but to affect lasting change, he focused on education.
Given his own experience — nearly failing a class over different standards across different Georgia school districts — he had plenty to say about issues with school and how it connects to economic disparity and accentuates racism.