BOSTON – A recent evening with Jaylen Brown was a manifestation of the true power of sports.

We met in the hall of an apartment constructing in the city center. Dressed in head-to-toe black, with braids pulled back and his beard trimmed low, the Boston Celtics guard was heading to an event as vital as Tuesday night’s season opener for the Celtics, when they’ll receive their 2024 NBA championship rings. Brown was alone – with no bodyguard, agent, or entourage – as I followed him to a black Cadillac Escalade. We went to fulfill with 10 corporations from disadvantaged communities that Brown and teammate Jrue Holiday are helping to develop.

Brown is currently 27 years old and currently on top of the world. Last season, he destroyed the Dallas Mavericks in the championship series each ends of the floorhe cleared up criticism about his play and won Finals MVP. He has the look of a movie star, a song with a rap star, a contract with a superstar – but what brings him to life is making an impact in communities that lack equal opportunities.

“Honestly, I feel better,” Brown said after I asked him to match serving to playing basketball. “I feel answerable for being given my platform to assist influence other people. The only time I actually feel completely satisfied is when I’m attempting to help other people.

“Blacksmithing is like drinking water. It’s like breathing at this point. You don’t really feel anything anymore unless it’s big matches or big moments. But for the most part, I think my platform was only given so that I could help as many people as possible.”

In 2023, after signing a then-record $304 million contract, Brown said he would use his windfall to assist eliminate racial wealth gap. In August 2024, it launched Boston XChangewith the goal of generating $5 billion in generational wealth for marginalized communities, and founded the center in Oakland. Last Wednesday, October 16, Brown allowed me to take him with him to the meeting of the first group of XChange entrepreneurs – Boston Creator Incubator + Accelerator Cohort.

“Five billion is a great goal if you can achieve it,” Brown told me. “But even to proceed to push the boundaries forward. I feel the more relentless we’re in pushing change forward, that is the most significant thing. Keep pushing as a substitute of pretending all the things is high quality where it’s.

We jumped out of the truck and took the escalator to Grace by NiaAND Owned by a black woman supper club in the Boston Seaport District. There was no red carpet or famous guests, just a daily meeting cooks, clothing designers, hatters and more, with academic partners from Roxbury Community College, Suffolk University, Harvard Business School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Entrepreneurship.

Brown focuses on the “creative economy” – the individuals who make things. The first 10 entrepreneurs include: Dorchester Art Project Down Melanin for hair care down Chess Academy of Future Champions. Each company will receive as much as $100,000 over the next three years, in addition to mentorship, training and work space. Funding is provided by Brown; the JLH Social Impact Fundfounded by Holiday and his wife Lauren; and other philanthropic partners.

“Real joy comes from things like this,” Jrue told me. “Seeing people’s faces when they talk about what they like to do. They’re bustling around, talking about hats, talking about whether you need a cameraman, whether you need catering services, and so on. To me, it shows how powerful we are as athletes that we can help these people’s businesses flourish and make their dreams come true.”

“What’s so special about the Boston cohort is how many people got behind it,” said Lauren Holiday, a former member of the United States women’s national soccer team. “Harvard, MIT, Jaylen’s team, it feels bigger than anything we’ve done before, and it feels like this cohort is surrounded by so many options and so many people who support them.”

During his eight seasons in the NBA, Brown took a revolutionary stand on the establishment, whether that meant difficult police brutality against Black people or the exploitation of the sneaker industry. He positioned his latest sneaker brand as more disruptive statement than a profitable enterprise.

I wondered if Brown saw himself as a disruptor, but he said he didn’t.

“It doesn’t necessarily bother me because I understand the tone, but a lot of the things that I feel like I’ve invented or that I’m a part of are solution-based,” he said.

“By simply disturbing and then running away in the night, you have only disturbed something. Everything I offered was solutions-based, whether it was my shoe company, where I listened to the cries of athletes suffering from a lack of choice and their value being hidden by sports agencies and the shoe industry. And so I created another option. If you look at the wealth disparities here in Boston, people of color felt that it was extremely difficult to start a business and survive the hegemony that existed. So I started Boston XChange. I like to offer solutions.”

My Andscape colleague Bill Rhoden, a pioneering black journalist and writer of the definitive history of black athlete activism, recently reminded us how Brown meets a better standard of athletic greatness: “how fame and visibility are used to advance the cause of justice, respect and freedom beyond arena.” That’s what I saw last week as Brown spread his wealth, access and fame to his first group of entrepreneurs.

They won’t be the last.

“We are building a family,” Brown told me at the end of the evening. “We are building brotherhood, a community of sisters, a collective of people. People of color are coming from underserved communities and giving them those resources, but also building those breadcrumbs for the next generation.”

“Change doesn’t come from one initiative, one person or one entity. It comes from a bunch of people who find themselves committed to doing these items. So we sit up for working with more creators, more investors, and more initiatives in numerous cities and different states in the future. “It’s not about starting something new, but about highlighting what people have already done and using the power of influence – the power of sport.”

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Kansas City Chiefs will play the remainder of the season without their top two wide receivers. Their starting lineup is an injured reserve, and the Chiefs have serious problems with their offensive attack.

However, the Chiefs still have head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a defense that provided the foundation for an additional Super Bowl championship. Well, the other 31 NFL teams are second to none.

While the successful San Francisco 49ers have aspirations to be in the class of Kansas City, that will not be happening, as was evident on Sunday afternoon with the visiting Chiefs’ 28-18 victory at Levi’s Stadium.

Before selling out a crowd of 71,309, the Chiefs (6-0) continued their dominance over the 49ers (3-4), remaining undefeated in Mahomes’ five profession starts in the series. After Week 7, there is just one undefeated team left in the NFL – it relies in Kansas City, Missouri.

“You get the best of the best and that prepares you for the playoffs. That’s the most important thing,” Mahomes said. “Whenever you play in tense moments against great NFL teams, you see where you are at. We managed to find a way to win.”

And again, once they faced the Chiefs, the 49ers didn’t do it.

Such a giant failure against the Chiefs under Mahomes has confused the 49ers – and so they don’t even try to deny it.

“Obviously we want to beat the team that has had our number since I’ve been here,” said star defensive end Nick Bosa. “We just didn’t play well enough.”

Two of Kansas City’s victories over San Francisco got here in Super Bowls LIV and LVIII, adding to the hype surrounding the matchup during the regular season. Unlike Mahomes’ previous three starts against the 49ers, when the Chiefs had to rally from double-digit deficits, they controlled the game from the second quarter: Kansas City led by as many as 16 points (28-12) in the second quarter of the fourth quarter. With the game all but decided, San Francisco scored a cosmetic touchdown with just over a minute remaining.

Even with Mahomes’ passing total of just 154 yards, no touchdown passes and two interceptions, the Chiefs offense made enough plays to set the tone for the team. One play early in the fourth quarter was emblematic of how bad things had gone for the 49ers against the Chiefs in the Mahomes era.

Quarterback Brock Purdy’s one-yard touchdown run helped the 49ers cut the Chiefs’ lead to 14-12 early in the third quarter. This was no problem for the Chiefs. Late in the quarter and into the final quarter, Mahomes led a 13-play, 79-yard touchdown drive, punctuated by a roll by 49ers safety Malik Mustafa in the end zone for the final yard on fourth down.

Typically, safeties perform higher in these matchups against quarterbacks. Certainly, each time Mahomes records highlights of his profession, this play shall be a tie-breaker.

“I didn’t actually try to lower my arm. I attempted to absorb the impact because I knew I used to be going to be right in the end zone,” said Mahomes, who also had a 33-yard run three plays earlier that was price watching. “I had enough weight on me when he fell.

“So it wasn’t like I used to be necessarily trying to seek contact. I attempted to absorb it and get to the end zone, but it surely worked out well for me.

After Mahomes’ strong play in the first minute of the fourth quarter, the Chiefs were leading 21-12. Given the way the Chiefs defense was playing, it’d as well have been a 90-point lead.

Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is second to none at his job, and on Sunday, Spagnuolo was cooking as usual again.

Purdy had three interceptions and accomplished only 17 of 31 passes. Although the Chiefs only sacked Purdy once, they pressed him in the pocket when it mattered most. After Mahomes’ touchdown, the Chiefs’ advantage increased, the 49ers drove from the 30-yard line to the Chiefs’ 5-yard line.

On third-and-5, Purdy dropped back to pass and was hit by defensive end George Karlaftis as he began to throw. Safety Jaden Hicks intercepted a pass in the end zone.

Purdy said: “I definitely need to play better, just with my shots and some of my decisions. It’s quite simple.”

Attention to detail is vital in the Chiefs defense. Spagnuolo has a watch for it and “they will always focus on the details,” said Karlaftis, who was the only Chiefs sacker. “Smoothing out, making adjustments and all the things we’d like to improve (every week). I watch it, learn from it and turn out to be a greater team.

The Chiefs gained possession with 9:29 left in the game. With only 3:16 left on the game clock, wide receiver Mecole Hardman made a right-to-left move, took a pass from Mahomes and scored on an 18-yard touchdown to put the Chiefs up.

Hardman, who also returned a punt 55 yards, enjoys playing at Levi’s Stadium. When the teams met here in Week 7 of the 2022-2023 season, Hardman scored three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving). Hardman also caught an extra time pass in last season’s Super Bowl, giving the Chiefs their third Super Bowl championship in five seasons.

“I think it’s one of those things that happens,” Hardman replied when asked about his success against the 49ers.

The 49ers defense performed poorly against the Chiefs’ running game on Sunday. The Chiefs rushed for 184 yards (for a mean of 4.7 yards per carry). Running back Kareem Hunt threw for 78 yards and two touchdowns.

“They know how to win in a lot of different ways,” Bosa said. “We were hoping for more opportunities to get him (Mahomes) in the second half. To do this, however, you must stop running. We didn’t do that.”

Once again, against a team that dominated them, the 49ers simply didn’t perform well enough. After five straight losses to the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, the 49ers appear no closer to solving their long-running nightmare.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — I’m not a fan of the players or the teams. However, I’m a fan of historical moments. An incredible historic moment took place Sunday night on the Barclays Center in Brooklyn when the New York Liberty, one among the unique WNBA teams, won their first WNBA championship.

Led by Finals MVP Jonquel Jones, Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in extra time. If any fan base deserved to win a championship, Liberty fans did it. Liberty has reached the WNBA Finals five times and has never won. Their fans have watched, waited and followed this band for 27 years, first at Madison Squares Garden.

When Knicks owner James Dolan put the team up on the market and sent Liberty to Westchester, Liberty fans followed him. The Liberty played in Newark, and in 2004 they even took the stage at Radio City Music Hall. Ultimately, the Liberty was purchased by the owners of the Brooklyn Nets, Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai. When it became clear on Sunday that the long-awaited championship moment had finally arrived, the Barclays Center erupted in muted joy from fans who had been waiting for a championship moment for nearly three many years.

For those that could have had their first taste of WNBA basketball – college refugees who were dropped at the league by Caitlin Clark or Angel Reese – the Liberty-Lynx Finals could have been a revelation. For longtime WNBA fans, these Finals simply underlined what they already knew: The women on this league are incredibly talented, passionate and committed to a cause — improving women’s basketball and ladies typically.

With the exception of the second match, which Liberty won after losing, every final match ended with a possession victory. In the primary game, Minnesota overcame an 18-point deficit and defeated Liberty 95-93 in extra time. In Game 3, Liberty needed a 3-pointer by Sabrina Ionescu to secure an 80-77 victory. The Lynx won Game 4 82-80 after two last-second fouls by Bridget Carleton. This marked the start of the historic drama that unfolded on Sunday.

Sunday’s victory capped a historic season not just for Liberty, but in addition for a league that has been screaming for attention in a competitive sports market that an excessive amount of ignores or marginalizes women. Just like there are men who won’t ever vote for a presidential candidate, no matter her qualifications, there are also men who is not going to listen to the WNBA. Fortunately, the league continues to thrive without them.

Despite the NFL, college football and hockey seasons being in full swing, despite the Major League Baseball playoffs being underway, the voice of the WNBA has finally been heard.

• ESPN estimated viewership increased 170% to 1.2 million per game.
• WNBA teams sold 400,000 tickets in a single month.
• 21 matches attracted over 1 million viewers each. In eighteen of those games, the Indiana Fever and Clark were their No. 1 draft pick.

There’s little question that Clark and fellow Chicago Sky rookie Reese played significant roles within the league’s historic leap forward this season, but they were under no circumstances saviors. The WNBA might have fresh leadership soon, but with so many great players, it doesn’t need saviors.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert made a mistake last month when, at the peak of the debates surrounding Clark and her initiation into the league, she was asked during a television interview about racism and misogyny directed on the WNBA’s predominantly black players. Engelbert said: “There is no more apathy. Everyone cares. If you remember, it’s kind of of a moment of that bird magic, in the event you remember 1979, when these two rookies got here back from an enormous college rivalry, one white, one black. And so now we have this moment with these two.

“But one thing I know about sports: you need competition. That’s what makes people watch. They want to watch important matches between rivals. They don’t want everyone to be nice to each other.”

Engelbert later posted a press release on social media explaining her position. “To be clear, there is absolutely no place for hate or racism in the WNBA or anywhere else.” But Englebert made point: Polarization attracts attention. She was unsuitable to say that, unlike the NBA within the Nineteen Seventies, the WNBA didn’t need a savior. The league needs consistency, perseverance and continuous development. It needs competitive finals just like the one we just saw.

Most of the coverage of the WNBA was concerning the cheerleaders and support. I’m guilty of this too. The WNBA is a league, but it surely is also a movement, a crusade. This made the league clean up; this is what separates the WNBA from other major leagues. The WNBA champions empowerment and social justice while rebuking misogyny. During a conversation last summer on the Paris Olympics, Nadia Rawlinson, co-owner of Chicago Sky, said, “Eighty percent of the people on the court are African American. A large number of these people identify as LGBTQIA. The league is about equality, access, opportunity, fighting for justice, getting a seat at the table.”

In 2021, players campaigned against Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler, who has been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump in his bid to retain his Senate seat. She lost. WNBA players have long advocated for LGBTQ rights. They dedicated the 2020 season within the Say Her Name campaign for Breonna Taylor. WNBA players have grow to be a respected political force. A yr later, Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner was detained in Russia. Her arrest highlighted how WNBA players are forced to compete overseas to complement their income.

I’m undecided how long the WNBA’s activist imperative will last. It may grow to be a victim of its own popularity and expansion. The league will add one team next season and two more in 2026.

The WNBA has made another U-turn, but there are still more twists and turns to barter and mountains to climb. According to for a report within the New York Postthe league could lose $40 million this season. The Post’s report also found that NBA players receive about 50% of the NBA’s basketball revenue in comparison with 10% for the WNBA. Sports economist David Berri told the New York Post: “NBA men have never been as underpaid as WNBA women are today.” This may change in the following 20 years.

But within the here and now, the WNBA took another significant step forward this season, culminating in a historic moment for the Liberty. As a lover of historical moments, I felt lucky to have the opportunity to experience this.