Sports

Jaylen Brown’s impact goes beyond the Celtics’ championship

Published

1 month ago

October 23, 2024

IAM

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.”

Boston Celtics guards Jaylen Brown (left) and Jrue Holiday (right) talk during their game against the Denver Nuggets on March 7 at Ball Arena in Denver.

Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images

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.”

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (right) smiles after playing against the Dallas Mavericks during Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals on June 17 at TD Garden in Boston.

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

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.”

Jesse Washington is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. Still getting buckets.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com

Sports

In 2025, the Basketball Africa League play-offs will move to South Africa

Published

2 hours ago

November 22, 2024

IAM

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.

Marc J. Spears is Andscape’s senior NBA author. He used to have the option to dunk on you, but he hasn’t been able to do it for years and his knees still hurt.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com

Sports

NFL star Terrell Owens signs a contract with Michael Strahan’s talent agency

Published

15 hours ago

November 21, 2024

IAM

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.

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com

Sports

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker brings an NBA championship desire with his Olympic experience

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2024

IAM

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.

Guard Devin Booker throughout the final men’s basketball game between France and the United States on the Olympic Games on Aug. 10 at Bercy Arena in Paris.

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.

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (left) with Suns forward Kevin Durant (right) during a game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 31 on the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

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.”

Marc J. Spears is Andscape’s senior NBA author. He used to have the ability to dunk on you, but he hasn’t been capable of do it for years and his knees still hurt.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com