Sports
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown takes his mother on a surreal journey
On Friday, the Boston Celtics held a huge parade to rejoice their record 18th NBA championship. For Mechalle Brown, mother of NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, the last five days have been very busy.
In Brown’s world, it takes a village to boost a child, and a victory for one is a victory for all. This week it gave the impression of the entire village was calling for celebration.
“It was very surreal,” Brown said Thursday from Boston. “Did this really occur? It was a huge, overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness. It was hot. It was busy with all calls. People keep calling, my phone keeps ringing.
“I’m ready for this to finish. I’m glad they won, but there was a lot going on.
I watched Monday’s podium celebration and waited, like everyone else, to see who would win the Finals MVP, aka the NBA’s version of the Best Actor Oscar.
Although it takes a village to win, there is just one MVP.
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Brown was probably the most rated player within the postseason, but with forward Jayson Tatum having a monster game on Monday, there was a likelihood Tatum can be a popular selection – not the correct one, but a popular one.
When NBA commissioner Adam Silver called Brown, I used to be pleasantly surprised. A wave of emotions washed over Mechalle Brown. She closed her eyes, hugged her youngest son, and a wave of memories and emotions flooded her.
“First we see him when he is 9 months old, chasing a ball, then he is 27 years old and everything he has worked for and put great effort into has happened,” she said. “Knowing that he wanted it so bad and that he was able to help his team and get recognition at the same time, there’s nothing better than seeing it all come full circle. It was just overwhelming and an amazing feeling to see that.”
Later, within the postgame interview room, Brown described a dream he had earlier that day. He dreamed that when he woke up, his maternal grandmother, Dianne Varnado, wrapped her arms around him. “I knew everything would be fine,” he said. Mechalle Brown burst into tears when she heard her son remember her mother, who died in March 2023.
“When he talked about my mom and his dream, that’s what made me cry,” she said. “I wanted him to succeed, but it was too much for me.”
Mechalle Brown and her brother Byron Varnado were born and raised in Muskegon, Michigan. Eventually she moved to Atlanta, and every summer her two sons spent a few weeks in Michigan with their grandparents.
Her grandmother, an educator, helped establish the foundations of discipline for the boys. She gave them homework and reading to do before they went to play basketball. “What kid wants to do homework in the summer?” Mechalle Brown said. “All the things she did and why she did them, he understood growing up. He didn’t like them on the time, but later he understood why.
She added that her mother “played a huge role in shaping who Jaylen is by being a person of service and learning by example.
“She treated people with kindness, whether it was the most important person or someone who wasn’t the most important person,” Mechalle Brown said. “She always acted this way. She made sure Jaylen and Quenton had values, that they had character and integrity as young black men, and the way they conducted themselves. She taught them how to use their voices. When Jaylen cried, he knew that everything he was, he saw that that was where it came from. She was the originator of the idea.”
Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
What’s next for Brown? Thanks to the NBA title and the Finals MVP award, his level is raised. His mother said her son will proceed to work with the 7uice foundation and develop a bridge program that provides brown and black youth the chance to pursue their dreams in fields aside from athletics.
One thing Brown won’t do is let fame and money drown out his voice. Brown and his mother discussed the subject three years ago when he traveled to Atlanta in 2020 to take part in a demonstration following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
“He said, ‘I have a lot of money, but I’m still a man, I’m still a black man, and my voice needs to be heard,’” Mechalle Brown said, recalling a conversation she had together with her son.
“We had this conversation and that’s what led him to go to Atlanta. Because no matter how much money he has, he is still seen as a black man and must stand up to the injustice he sees in the world. Fortunately, he has a platform that most people don’t have.”
She also wants her son to earn a degree at Cal, where he spent nine months before starting his NBA profession. Mechalle Brown received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and her MBA from American InterContinental University. Her mother earned a degree from Grand Valley State University. “Athletics was never my passion,” she said. “My goal was education. I definitely want him to return back and finish it. We’ll speak about it in the summertime. He promised it to me and his grandmother.
With the whole lot Brown has on his plate, graduating won’t be easy. On the opposite hand, making it to the NBA wasn’t easy, nor was winning the NBA title and being Finals MVP.
As Mechalle Brown told her sons from a young age, “Struggling is inevitable when you’re trying to achieve great success.”
We finished our conversation. Mechalle Brown graciously used her time. There was a lot to do now – more calls to make, more friends and relatives to entertain. Of course, there have been preparations for the championship parade.
Brown said she is looking forward to Friday’s festivities.
“I’m really excited about the parade,” she said. “I’m excited to see it in motion and witness it. It’s a part of our family history.
“This is the cherry on top.”
Indeed, the Brown family finally gets the parade it deserves.
The 2025 Basketball Africa League season will feature a brand new venue for the finals and playoffs and will also start at a brand new location.
The BAL 2025 Playoffs and Finals, scheduled for June 14, 2025, will happen at the recent home in Pretoria, South Africa. This will be the first time the BAL playoffs and finals haven’t been held in Kigali, Rwanda. The BAL 2025 season will also debut in a brand new location in Rabat, Morocco on April 5, 2025. During the BAL 2025 season, 12 of the best club teams from 12 African countries will play 48 matches in Rabat, Kigali and Dakar, Senegal, before traveling to Pretoria for play- offs.
“Over the first four seasons of BAL, we have seen tremendous growth in on-court competition, attendance and engagement from fans and partners in Africa and around the world,” BAL president Amadou Gallo Fall said in a press release. “Our groundbreaking fifth season will build on this momentum and continue to showcase the level of talent and passion for basketball in Africa, including through the first BAL games in Morocco and the first BAL Finals in South Africa.”
The 12 teams will be divided again into three conferences of 4 teams each. The group stage of the Kalahari Conference will happen from April 5 to 13, 2025 in Rabat. The group stage of the Sahara Conference will be held in Dakar from April 26 to May 4, 2025. The group stage of the Nile Conference will be held in Kigali from May 17 to 25, 2025. Eight teams from the three conferences will qualify for the play-offs in Pretoria, which will start on June 6 and end with the BAL 2025 finals.
“The Kalahari conference marks another expansion of BAL into a new country on our continent and we are more than satisfied,” FIBA Africa president Anibal Manave said in a press release. “The competition continues to grow each year, providing greater exposure for our sport and helping to raise the level of basketball in Africa, making the league increasingly competitive.”
National champions from Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia routinely qualify for the BAL. The remaining five teams are from FIBA Africa’s Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments.
In the 2024 BAL season, Petro de Luanda of Angola became the first team from Sub-Saharan Africa to win the championship. According to BAL, the 2024 BAL season reached fans in 214 countries and territories in 17 languages, set an attendance record of greater than 120,000 fans in the 4 host countries and generated greater than 1.2 billion views across the NBA and BAL social media channels.
NFL Hall of Fame receiver and podcast host Terrell Owens has signed with a talent agency to further strengthen his claims within the entertainment game.
According to , Owens was signed by SMAC Entertainment, headed by host and NFL Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and his business partner Constance Schwartz-Morini.
NFL insider Jordan Schultz has also joined SMAC Entertainment.
“We are excited to add TO and Jordan to the SMAC family. They are both at the top of their game and set the standard in their industry,” Schwartz-Morini said in a written statement. “TO and Jordan have already brought an infectious energy to our team, and we are excited to help them realize their vision for careers in media, business and branding.”
A five-time first-team All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler, Owens played for the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals. In 2018, he was finally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
A member of the 2000 NFL All-Decade Team, Owens finished his profession with 1,078 catches for 15,934 yards, 14.8 yards per catch and 153 touchdowns, rating third all-time in receiving yards and touchdowns.
Since retiring from skilled soccer in 2012, Owens has already made several moves. He has appeared in several movies and tv shows, including “,” and in addition had his own reality show, “, on VH1.
He currently co-hosts the podcast with former NFL player and sports analyst Shannon Sharpe.
SMAC Entertainment is home to stars similar to rapper and actor Common, Wiz Khalifa, Strahan, Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders and current NFL players similar to Stefon Diggs and DK Metcalf.
Sports
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker brings an NBA championship desire with his Olympic experience
The gold medal went to the USA Basketball team. Mission completed on the 2024 Paris Games. U.S. men’s basketball coach Steve Kerr just answered his final query during his final news conference on Aug. 10 after his team defeated France within the gold medal game.
However, before leaving the stage of the press conference in Paris, Kerr stopped to deliver an unsolicited message to media around the globe.
“Devin Booker is an amazing basketball player. Nobody asked about him. He was our unsung MVP. I just desired to say that,” Kerr said.
The “underrated MVP” compliment meant so much to the Phoenix Suns guard.
“It meant everything. No one really asked him,” Booker recently told Andscape. “That was probably something that was weighing on his mind throughout the entire process. A 12 months ago I said what I desired to do for this team and what we desired to do for the country.
“It was a lot larger than all of us. Survival was something we’d discuss for the remainder of our lives.
The USA Basketball team was centered around NBA star icons LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. There has also been some discussion amongst media and fans in regards to the lack of playing time for Jayson Tatum and, to a lesser extent, Tyrese Haliburton. Lost within the shuffle was the all-around, unselfish play of sharpshooter Booker wearing the armband.
Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images
Booker was fourth in scoring for the U.S., averaging 11.7 points, 3.3 assists and a couple of.2 three-pointers made early in all six Olympics, and likewise had the perfect plus/minus (plus-130) for an American. Kerr was impressed with Booker’s deal with a difficult defense, regardless that he is thought for his offense, ball movement and the way he has adjusted to not being one in every of the highest options on offense.
“I just understood what was at stake,” Booker said. “I’m proud to be from this country. I’m happy with playing basketball. Even though it wasn’t invented in America, we dominated for a very long time. Obviously the world is incredibly talented and the sport is growing, however it was just one other message to allow them to know who we’re.
Booker said he also learned in regards to the preparations from his all-star team, watching the preparations on and off the court. The 28-year-old added that he gained lifelong friendships.
“It’s cool to see that everyone has their own issues,” Booker said. “In my 10 years in the NBA, I’ve learned that you have to choose what you can use for yourself. But the level of detail, the attention to detail, the intensity – it’s all consistent across the board.”
As for Durant, Booker said the bond between the 2 Sun stars “is close and grows stronger every day.” They live about five minutes from one another within the Phoenix area and commonly spend time at home and on the road. Most recently, Booker had to steer the Suns without Durant, who was sidelined with an injury.
The amazing Durant averaged 27.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and three.4 assists, which were tops for the Suns. However, the 14-time NBA All-Star has been sidelined since November 8 with a left calf strain. Suns players Bradley Beal (calf) and Jusuf Nurkic (ankle) were also sidelined. The Suns are 1-5 without Durant, which incorporates 4 straight losses.
Booker and Suns sans Durant’s next rivals shall be the New York Knicks on Wednesday evening (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET). Over the last six games, Booker is averaging 24.1 points, shooting 43.2% from the sphere and making 16 of 43 three-pointers. Suns guard Tyus Jones said there was numerous pressure on Booker offensively due to the injury.
“We’re asking a lot of Book,” Jones said after Monday’s 109-99 loss to the visiting Orlando Magic. “It’s numerous pressure for him. We are very focused on it. They are physical with him, holding him and grabbing him, throwing two or three bodies at him all night long. So he’s got so much on his plate and we just need to proceed to seek out ways to get him open within the moments we will and proceed to assist him when other players are taking shots and making plays.
Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images
Booker currently has two Olympic gold medals, 4 NBA All-Star appearances and one NBA Finals appearance. The only thing missing from the Suns’ second-leading all-time scorer is an NBA championship. Since the Suns joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1968, they’ve yet to win a title.
After experiencing the joys of winning a gold medal, Booker as an NBA champion wants the gold Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy much more.
“Most of the guys that were there did it,” Booker said of his Olympic teammates who were NBA champions. “They were champions. This is standard for them. Anything lower than that, they need nothing to do with it. It’s contagious…
“That’s all I want. That’s all I want.”
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