Jaylen Brown is extra immersed in the Boston community — but it’s nothing new

Just over a week after the Celtics were eliminated from the NBA playoffs, Jaylen Brown said he hoped to spend most of his offseason in Boston.

“I’m leaning toward being even more in the community,” Brown told CelticsBlog. “I’m just really trying to touch this community and be around, be available for the city of Boston.”

One month later, Brown has already fulfilled that promise: he’s hosted two 741 Performance pop-ups, and surprised students at five different schools in Dorchester and Roxbury.

“People couldn’t stop talking about it, I can’t even lie,” Jaylon Mason, a graduating senior at Brooke High School, told CelticsBlog after Brown visited his school late last month. “It’s the equivalent of, like, sitting on your bed and eating cereal, watching TV, and like, Obama comes in.”

It appeared that Brown’s community visits could come to a standstill when the Celtics announced that Brown underwent surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus last week.

But that procedure only kept him away from the Boston community for a week, and on Thursday, Brown meandered into the Berkshire Partners Blue Hill Club in Dorchester, leaning on one crutch to support himself as he walked.

Jaylen Brown led a Juneteenth celebration in Dorchester

In the inundated gymnasium, Brown addressed several hundred youth who shrieked as he walked through the door.

First, he called up kids to share what they knew about Juneteenth, a Holiday commemorating the end of slavery.

Then, he shared a simple directive: to treat each as other as nicely as possible.

“Small acts of kindness, nice things — you never know how that can affect people,” Brown told the students. “That goes for whether you are a player for the Celtics, or if you’re on the basketball team here at the Boys and Girls Club. Can y’all do that? Can y’all be nice to each other?”

For hours after his opening remarks, the Celtics star took photos and chatted with students of all ages from the Dorchester area — from toddlers to teenagers — ultimately gifting 125 pairs of 741 Performance sneakers to kids in attendance.

He taught kids how to improve their shooting form, urged them to prioritize their schoolwork, and shared laughs with leaders from the Boston community.

Jaylen Brown began his off-court involvement years ago

Andrea Swain, the Boys and Girls Club’s chief impact officer, noted that Brown’s involvement in the community is nothing new.

“He’s been doing it since he arrived in Boston,” she told CelticsBlog on Wednesday. “He’s everywhere. He’s been at some of the playgrounds in Roxbury — he’s an active, engaged figure, and a lot of stuff he does is off camera. He’ll come and give out turkeys in the community, give encouragement.”

Swain pointed to one behind-the-scenes moment that stuck with her forever.

Years ago, during the COVID pandemic, she served as the executive director at the Yawkey Boys and Girls Club in Roxbury and stumbled upon an issue: dealing with remote learning, masking, and social distancing, the students had lost interest in their academics.

Motivation was at a low, and an infusion of inspiration was needed.

“The kids weren’t doing their work,” Swain recalled.

A mutual connection told Jaylen Brown about the situation, and he immediately opted to visit the club, urging the students to prioritize their academics, even when they didn’t feel like it.

The result of the motivational speech?

All 100 kids at the club made the honor roll.

“He just came and he did it — and turned the lives around for those 100 kids,” Swain said. “Every single one of them were on the honor roll. Every single one.”

Nearly five years later, Brown’s love for the community has only deepened. Reeling from an early playoff exit and his first offseason surgery, Brown told CelticsBlog the process of going out and connecting with Boston residents is therapeutic.

“I think it’s a part of the healing process,” he said. “Stuff like this makes me feel a little bit better.”

KJ Grubbs, who is the executive director of the Dorchester club, said that these types of visits build a long-lasting sense of community.

“For the kids, this is something that they’re gonna remember for years and associate it with their experience with where they grew up,” Grubbs told CelticsBlog. “It just increases the love that our young people have for where they’re from when we have things like this — it shows them that where they are is just as important. They don’t have to go anywhere to be celebrated. They can be right here.”

Brown has long lamented some of the issues Boston faces, such as the city’s racial wealth gap. Last summer, in collaboration with Jrue and Lauren Holiday, he launched Boston XChange, an incubator that aims to generate $5 billion in new wealth for historically marginalized communities through strategic investments and partnerships.

“Too many people complain about their community and aren’t doing anything about it, in my opinion,” Brown said Thursday. “They’re not doing anything to help, not doing anything to contribute, so I never view myself as one of those people. I try to be in the community and around as much as I can be.”

A few hot hours — and hundreds of photos and signatures later — Brown walked out of the Berkshire Partners Blue Hill Club feeling just a little bit better.

The moments he shared with the youth of Boston meant as much to him as they did to the kids, he said.

“I just appreciate it all, you know what I mean?” Brown said. “Just the authenticity, how much the kids probably appreciate me, I appreciate them. It’s mutual, to be honest. I feel like this stuff kinda helps heal the soul.”