Boston Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown is known for being a leader, both on and off the court. The 28-year-old is an outspoken individual. While this is admirable, it has been a trait that brands find particularly challenging to manage.
Brown’s stance against signing deals with large brands is well known, especially with his publicized ongoing feud with Nike. Recently, however, the Celtics star revealed why he rejected a $50 million deal with the apparel giant to start his own brand on the “Big Tigger Morning Show“. He said:
“You sign these contracts, you have these little catchphrases that be in there. Like, if you say anything controversial, or anything that disrupts our ecosystem of our company, we can terminate your deal, terminate your contract. So that kind of makes you not have a voice.”
“So a lot of our celebrities and our athletes, they never speak up, they never say anything, because they risk whatever their contract is if they do. So I don’t like compromising my voice for nothing and nobody. So I just told them I’d pass.”
The host then asked Brown about his decision to alter his shoes by removing the brand logo and whether the feud with Nike had been dealt with since. The star admitted that there had been no resolution regarding his beef with Nike, but he added:
“At the time, nothing was working out just because of the way my brain was thinking. But I needed to wear shoes, and Nike had the best shoes in the market. But I wasn’t signed to them, so I wasn’t going to give no free advertisement.”
To bypass this, Brown started wearing Kobe’s. But due to the brand belonging to Nike, he needed to take the logo off, effectively resulting in him wearing “boneless Kobe’s”.
“Kobe’s the reason why I started my brand now, my own sneaker brand, where I can come up with my own rules instead of having to follow somebody else’s.”
Brown’s stance against the restraints placed upon athletes by brands has been viewed as inspiring. When considering the kind of treatment some players have had to endure, like Kyrie Irving’s contract termination with Nike, the Celtics star makes a valid point about not wanting to compromise on his freedom of expression and opinion.
However, this decision has been costly for the 28-year-old in its own way. While giving up a significant sum of money is worth noting, his feud with Nike may have had more serious consequences, as it supposedly resulted in the star being snubbed from representing his country at official tournaments.
The back-and-forth between Brown and Nike has continued ever since, as both parties take shots at each other. Regardless, with the creation of his own brand, “741”, whose products range from footwear to clothing, the 28-year-old has managed to maintain his integrity while also being successful in his professional endeavors.
