Boston Celtics star calls out his own team's city over its racism

Brown pulled no punches about the city that so reveres its Celtics, but which has a long history of racial unease. Asked, “What has your experience been like as a Black professional athlete in Boston?”, Brown replied:

“There are multiple experiences: as an athlete, as a basketball player, as a regular civilian, as somebody who’s trying to start a business, as someone who’s trying to do things in the community. There’s not a lot of room for people of color, Black entrepreneurs, to come in and start a business.

“I think that my experience there has been not as fluid as I thought it would be. Even being an athlete, you would think that you’ve got a certain amount of influence to be able to have experiences, to be able to have some things that doors open a little bit easier.

“But even with me being who I am, trying to start a business, trying to buy a house, trying to do certain things, you run into some adversity.”

Brown was even more direct in his criticism of some of his team’s fan base. Asked about other Black athletes’ criticism of how they were treated in Boston, Brown had this to say:

“I pretty much block it all out. It’s not the whole Celtic fan base, but it is a part of the fan base that exists within the Celtic nation that is problematic. If you have a bad game, they tie it to your personal character.

I definitely think there’s a group or an amount within the Celtic nation that is extremely toxic and does not want to see athletes use their platform, or they just want you to play basketball and entertain and go home. And that’s a problem to me.”

As the Times piece noted, “Brown first received widespread attention for his political views in 2018 when he told The Guardian that President Donald J. Trump was “unfit to lead” and that he had “made it a lot more acceptable for racists to speak their minds.” He also said sports were a “mechanism of control.”