“Exclusive Insights: The Untold Story Behind TIME’s Candid Interview with Jaylen”

This past offseason has been nothing short of transformative for Jaylen Brown, the Boston Celtics’ shining star. Touted as the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, Brown faced a surprising twist when he was not selected for Team USA’s Paris Olympics roster. But rather than letting that setback derail him, he swung into action, dedicating himself to personal growth and creative ventures. From an intense fitness regimen that pushed him to new physical heights to the release of a new song and the launch of a performance brand, Brown encapsulated the essence of resilience and ambition. Now, he stands proudly on the cover of TIME magazine, heralding a narrative of success that merges his on and off-court endeavors. Sean Gregory, the writer behind Brown’s profile, recently spilled the beans on the fascinating insights uncovered during their interview, shedding light on a player whose impact extends far beyond basketball. So, let’s dive deeper into the mind of Brown, who continues to redefine what it means to be a modern athlete. LEARN MORE.

Forsberg shares his experience traveling to Abu Dhabi with the team last week and breaks down what he saw from the Celtics in their first two preseason games.The 2024 NBA Finals MVP was left off Team USA’s Paris Olympics roster, but he deserves a gold medal for his off-the-court efforts. He got himself into even better shape for the new season, released a new song, and launched a new performance brand while traveling the world and continuing his philanthropic work.”You never know with folks who do the philanthropy how real it is and how sincere (they are). People went out of their way, which gave me comfort, to be like, ‘It’s not performative.’ Like, Jaylen Brown really cares about this stuff,” Gregory said.”… I don’t think he was going out of his way to be like, ‘I need to sound smart here.’ I think he went out of his way to be like, ‘I want to be right and I want to be accurate.’ And I appreciated that. I just thought it was telling.”

🔊 Celtics Talk: Behind the scenes on Jaylen Brown’s TIME magazine cover story, and recapping the Abu Dhabi trip | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

Any common thread Gregory found between all of the top-level athletes across different sports?”So he kind of leaned into, ‘I’m the MVP, I’ve got a lot of disposable income, and I’m going to experience the world.’ And he didn’t let the disappointment of the Olympic thing dispel or take away from what he accomplished, which I think if you’re a Celtics fan, you like hearing that. He’s still working on his game, he’s still hungry, and he enjoyed the fruits of his labor instead of letting it get him down.”Also in the episode:“Here’s an exchange that kind of (stood out). I can’t pronounce the word, panopticism or something? It was really telling that he started to give a response — I went back and listened, and it was fine, but he was so hell-bent on nailing it that he had a friend who’s kind of, I get the sense, a guy who helps manage him and think stuff through, who was sort of listening in. … He kind of butted in a little bit and said, ‘Hey, can we stop and talk this through?’It was an eventful offseason for Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, to say the least.TIME writer goes behind the scenes on Jaylen interview originally appeared on NBC Sports BostonSean Gregory details the process of interviewing Jaylen Brown for TIME and what he learned from the Celtics star.Gregory also shared what he learned about Brown from other individuals he interviewed. One of them was a lecturer in the African American studies program at Brown’s alma mater, UC Berkeley.

• In only a few months, Brown went from supposedly lacking marketability to gracing the cover of TIME magazine. The writer who profiled Brown for the cover story, Sean Gregory, joined Chris Forsberg on the latest Celtics Talk Podcast to share his biggest takeaways from the interview.
• Gregory discusses what surprised him most about his interview with Brown.
• “I included it because I think it’s just telling about how he’s kind of — things are calculated. He cares about getting this stuff right. He could’ve just babbled his way through and it would’ve been fine, but he discussed what he wanted to say with his friend.
• “I spoke to a friend of his, Ameer Loggins. He made an interesting point about how this summer, which in many cases — he had a hurdle this summer with the Olympics stuff. But it didn’t stop him from enjoying this summer,” he said. “He did what he wanted to do. He’s doing the underwater aerobics, he’s going to Mecca, I think his girlfriend and him took a second trip to the Middle East.
• What did Gregory learn about the relationship between Brown and Jayson Tatum?