Jaylen Brown made a really powerful speech before yesterday's game on MLK


On a day that's been set aside as a tribute to one of the most important civil rights activists in American history, Jaylen Brown was asked to address the crowd at the TD Garden before the Celtics tipped off against the Charlotte Hornets. He spoke of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and how his legacy still inspires people to this very day. Instead of trying to explain to you what an eloquent speech Brown made, I'll let you see for yourself:

Great speech by Boston Celtics rookie Jaylen Brown on MLK Day.

A video posted by A. Sherrod Blakely (@sherrodbcsn) on



Very composed and matured for a 20-year old NBA rookie, Brown was heralded for his intellect coming out of Cal-Berkeley heading into the draft. That is evident with the way he spoke of Dr. King, as his words were both heartfelt and insightful. Perhaps the most amazing part of his speech was that he wasn't able to prepare for it. He was asked shortly before tipoff if he could address the crowd prior to the game. Via Jay King of MassLive:

"It was all off the top of my head," Brown said. "It was all last minute, so I threw something together."

"I've been celebrating this day for a long time and I've been celebrating it, appreciating Martin Luther King and what he's done for awhile," the rookie added. "So when they asked me to do this I said yes."

Brown grew up 20 minutes from the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the same church that Dr. King served as a pastor. Jaylen visited the church on numerous occasions in high school, as his basketball coach took the team there to teach the boys about the Civil Rights Movement. So perhaps that was also a driving force as to why Jaylen was chosen to represent the Celtics in front of the sold-out Garden crowd.

Coach Brad Stevens was very impressed with what he heard from Brown Monday night:

"I wish he would have kept going," Stevens said, "because I thought he did a terrific job capturing what I think we all feel, and I thought it was extremely eloquently done."

Jaylen has shown some flashes of brilliance on that very same parquet floor this season, but perhaps none of them match the performance he had last night.


Photo Credit - Celtics.com

Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkAL401