Jaylen Brown

I had attached my life to basketball so closely that it made me physically ill.

I can remember back when I was getting ready for the NBA, going through media training, going to certain camps - they almost teach you to not say anything that will get you any backlash or not say anything out of the norm, and what you're saying could be true to yourself.

Embarrassment is where growth happens.

So basketball has always taken me places that I could have never imagined.

I don't have any fear of failure whatsoever. I used to, and I told myself I wouldn't allow myself to anymore.

When I got to Cal, they tried to put me in safe classes, things I could succeed at. I went to Cal for an education. That's definitely problematic. You see athletes taking majors that don't add up to anything.

I learned to play chess at a young age, and I think that's where learning to plan things out and put things in position, that was the best thing for me.

A lot of people didn't know why I went to Cal. The Bay Area, Silicon Valley, I wanted to put myself in that position where I'm not only successful on the court but off the court.

I try not to think about the things I can't control.

Reading is looked at like it's corny or lame, but you'd be surprised what you can find in a book.

One of the most subtle but aggressive ways racism exists is through our education system.

I'm just trying to be the best basketball player, the best student, the best son, friend, etcetera. I'm just trying to get better in every facet.

I'm not trying to be different. To me, I'm just being myself.

At Berkeley, you wore a hoodie and pajamas and Birkenstocks, and that's swag. I was so thrown off. What I thought was cool wasn't cool no more, so I thought about what I actually liked. I started experimenting. I started wearing Birkenstocks. I wanted to dive into the culture.

I really like black. I love wearing black, different aesthetics and shades. I like earth tones. Those are my go-tos.

Often, everybody is comfortable with their role in life, and they forget about the people who are uncomfortable.

I just try to be respectful of everybody.

In life, if you stay quiet, you'll get left behind. So I had to learn to be more vocal and outgoing.

I'm just going to keep working to show people what I can do.

I'm emotionally and physically ready for anything.