October 23, 2024 • 11 mins
Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown. On the eve of the 2024 NBA season, Stephen A. travels to Boston for a revealing sit-down with the reigning Finals MVP of the world championship-winning Boston Celtics, Jaylen Brown.
Support the show: http://www.youtube.com/@stephenasmith
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Black Wall Street here in Boston on the day that
you signed your five year, three hundred plus million dollars deal,
which by the way, nobody refuted it. We all knew
you deserved. And that was before you want the DAD
one Championship. Okay, With all of that being said, talk
to everybody about what you're trying to accomplish and what
that specific project is all about and what it means
(00:26):
to you.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
It's all about my commitment, my platform to the community.
I've been here in Boston for nine years now, and
one of the things that I noticed is that the
racial wealth gap is involatile basically, you know.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Is it true that I heard that wealth gap If
you look at the median household for black families, it's
like eight dollars compared to you know, triple digits for
white families in America. Is that Is that true? They
said something along those lines.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
The Boston Globe reported that in like twenty sixteen, and
that's not probably where it is now. But Boston is
still top five involved disparity and they've been that for
the last twenty forty to fifty long time, and that
issues from systemic inequality. That is just you know, digressed
(01:26):
through time. So the Boston Exchange, which is a you know,
a spin off version of what kind of Black Panther?
I mean Black Wall Street? And also nineteen yeah, and
also the Rainbow Coalition of course that took place in
(01:46):
Chicago from fred Hampton. Like maybe I pulled from those
two but be able to use a platform through sports
to bring people together and throw everything that we got
at trying to proof that wealth disparity.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
You also have a foundation called Juice. It's the number
seven U I CE but it's the pronounced juice. Talk
about that for a second.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
What its mission is Another foundation that is more so
Boston Exchange is wealth disparity. The Juice Foundation, they deal
with a lot of the programming which is through education,
which is like the Bridge program or people in Boston
aren't familiar with, is where when I signed my deal,
(02:31):
had a bunch of kids around me that were behind me.
Those were my students in my Bridge program. I designed
a curriculum over at in my t pretty much every
summer and it's science technical, stem steam based, but it
includes space exploration, includes artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, et cetera.
(02:57):
And I take kids from Dorchester Roxbury from under represented
communities and build the bridge for them at MT. I
think that's important because they get the exposure from these
stem and steam based curriculums that can also help shape
their social mobility. So just by putting in this environment
(03:17):
allowing them to get internships, allowing them to sign up
for different programs, allowing them to be in the space
where they see theyself being successful instead of seeing theyself
being in the place that you know, it's not too
many opportunities. I think that's what the Bridge program is about,
and that's what Juice Foundation has funded. And we've are
(03:38):
in our fourth annual year this summer, and you know,
we track the kids and push the kids to sign
up for internships so they can just build their resumes
and the experience. And you know, I design the curriculum,
but hopefully it builds for them to have a more
impacted and a different kind of trajectory. Then what systemically
(04:03):
is laid out for them?
Speaker 1 (04:05):
You said you designed the curriculum, yes, sir, all right,
what does it explain? What does that mean exactly? You
come up with the classes, you come up with the courses,
what exactly does that mean?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
All of above come up with the courses. Also, you know,
when you bring kids into a counter space like m
I T, especially coming from underrepresented community, you want to
make sure that they're comfortable. So, you know, you don't
want to make you want it to come off pretentious,
You don't want it to come off as like above
(04:34):
or anything like that. So when you build the curriculum,
you also need to include things to to level the space.
So we include leadership, you know, seminars which I lead.
We include you know, some yoga depending on We include uh,
some activities just to make the kids feel integrated into
(04:58):
the space. And we build that on top of like
MHM interviewing the professors m T. The shout out to
I T. Shout out to Dalva Newman. She's the the
chairman for the MIT Media Lab. She'll send suggestions of
professors who we think that would be great. First, we
have conversations with them about what they want to communicate
(05:20):
and how they want to communicate it. Then kids don't
want to be sitting there listening to the lectures. You
got to be interactive. They got to be action based learning.
So we combine all of those things together and come
up with a come up with a four day camp
or so, and some kids are they're thinking they're about
(05:41):
to you know, they're coming to Jalen Brown. They think
they're about to play some basketball. But now you got
them in class at T.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
How receptive is the business community to your agenda, your
objective and how much do they facilitate you being able
to accomplish what you're aiming to accomplish?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Uh? The business community, honestly, I think it should and
could be more, but I think, uh, people are kind
of waiting to see kind of what is the next
leading steps. But I thought more people would be reaching out.
I think they you know, they post about it on
social media and they talk about it, you know, online,
(06:25):
but people don't always put you know, their resources into
something they and but then they complain as well when
they when there's something missing. So, uh, we're gonna keep moving,
We're gonna keep put pushing forward. And I'm hopeful and
I'm optimistic that you know, the right people are gonna
align as well.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Now, you know, I asked you the question because look
at all you're doing, look at what your objective is,
who would it want to support that? Nevertheless, you just
start told it's a challenge. Yes, Could it be that
it's a challenge because of what you stand doing and
(07:07):
how principled you are, and you're not somebody that did
we say is going to play the game that corporate
America might want you to play? You ever thought about that?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
I hate the term play the game.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I know what a lot of us do.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
It's twenty twenty four, right, Like it's a different game
than it was in nineteen eighty five. Similar people that
are moving to pieces, but the game is different. I
think that this generation has the progress to be able
to do a lot different things that maybe the generation
that came before wasn't able to through the power of
social media, through the lens of like just the media
(07:48):
in general. Multiple people are starting platforms, multip people are
entrepreneurs and working for theirself. So before like the social
norms of like corporate Americas, like man, you gotta dress
a certain way, speak a certain way, you know, be
a certain way. You got to have a college degree
to be successful. This is what our view is playing
(08:08):
the game twenty twenty four. I think that still exists,
but we've seen that game change where now you could
be yourself. You could dress casually or However, you feel
comfortable to have red, blue, yellow, green hair and people
are still accept you if you're good at your craft.
I think that game is changing. Maybe it hasn't changed
(08:29):
completely yet, but that's what I want people to recognize
as well, that the game is changing. It is not
the same, and it's our responsibility that the next twenty
to fifty years looks different than it looks right now.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Is there an NBA player that you look up to
more than others currently or currently? I can imagine anybody
you're looking up to, anybody more than you looked up
to Bill Russell. God, rest it up. Yeah, you can't
imagine that.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
What's an example? Right?
Speaker 1 (08:56):
But mom and dad present day player like any sport
or any sport doesn't matter. But I'm also going to
ask about the NBA too, because you're in it for sure.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
So one of my good friends is Vinnie Jr. The
soccer player, and he don't speak English as well, but
this summer I got to go to Brazil to get
to experience it with what his culture and what it's
like being him. You know, he plays in Madrid in
Spain and he has a lot of the same issues
(09:29):
that go on in America around, you know, race and
things like that, and and him coming from Brazil, from
the area that he come from and being able to
represent not only his country but South America as well.
And I think he's doing it with class. And I've
(09:49):
been able to just be fly on the wall in
his journey NBA player player.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Yes, I would.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Say, I mean Andre just retired, but that would be
Andre was my mentor, Andre gudaland brother. I pulled a
lot from Kobe Bryant as well. I know Kobe didn't
do a lot of talking either, but I acted a lot.
He acted a lot, and I followed a lot of
his moves. A lot of the reasons why I started
this shoe company is because I read an article around
(10:25):
twenty nineteen or so that Kobe was doing the same
thing before he passed, you know. He I read that
he had a partner, would like the CEO uber or whatnot,
and he wanted to give athletes better percentages and better
deals and allowed them to be able to invest into
the company as it grows. And I thought this was unique,
(10:47):
you know. I remember like seeing this and that they
had a picture of the shoe as well, and I
remember like man how cool would it be if I
could be one of those athletes and I never got
to meet Kobe, you know, and he never got to
shake his hand, never got to build with him. But
you know, some of the stuff that's left behind I
(11:08):
like to to walk in because I think Kobe was
one of the reasons I picked up a basketball in
the first place.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Seven one, that's the sneaker right here, Yes, sir, I
want to make sure I'm accurate here. The number seven
represents spiritual awakening, wisdom and understanding correct. Number four symbolizes
hard work, stability, and practicality. Number one stands for new beginnings,
(11:36):
creativity and independence. Did I do my homework?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah? I got it.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, that's a lot. It's worthy. It ain't nothing. I'm
nothing on it, ain't shade on it whatsoever. But that's
a lot that that that's typical of you.
Black Wall Street here in Boston on the day that
you signed your five year, three hundred plus million dollars deal,
which by the way, nobody refuted it. We all knew
you deserved. And that was before you want the DAD
one Championship. Okay, With all of that being said, talk
to everybody about what you're trying to accomplish and what
that specific project is all about and what it means
(00:26):
to you.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
It's all about my commitment, my platform to the community.
I've been here in Boston for nine years now, and
one of the things that I noticed is that the
racial wealth gap is involatile basically, you know.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Is it true that I heard that wealth gap If
you look at the median household for black families, it's
like eight dollars compared to you know, triple digits for
white families in America. Is that Is that true? They
said something along those lines.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
The Boston Globe reported that in like twenty sixteen, and
that's not probably where it is now. But Boston is
still top five involved disparity and they've been that for
the last twenty forty to fifty long time, and that
issues from systemic inequality. That is just you know, digressed
(01:26):
through time. So the Boston Exchange, which is a you know,
a spin off version of what kind of Black Panther?
I mean Black Wall Street? And also nineteen yeah, and
also the Rainbow Coalition of course that took place in
(01:46):
Chicago from fred Hampton. Like maybe I pulled from those
two but be able to use a platform through sports
to bring people together and throw everything that we got
at trying to proof that wealth disparity.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
You also have a foundation called Juice. It's the number
seven U I CE but it's the pronounced juice. Talk
about that for a second.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
What its mission is Another foundation that is more so
Boston Exchange is wealth disparity. The Juice Foundation, they deal
with a lot of the programming which is through education,
which is like the Bridge program or people in Boston
aren't familiar with, is where when I signed my deal,
(02:31):
had a bunch of kids around me that were behind me.
Those were my students in my Bridge program. I designed
a curriculum over at in my t pretty much every
summer and it's science technical, stem steam based, but it
includes space exploration, includes artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, et cetera.
(02:57):
And I take kids from Dorchester Roxbury from under represented
communities and build the bridge for them at MT. I
think that's important because they get the exposure from these
stem and steam based curriculums that can also help shape
their social mobility. So just by putting in this environment
(03:17):
allowing them to get internships, allowing them to sign up
for different programs, allowing them to be in the space
where they see theyself being successful instead of seeing theyself
being in the place that you know, it's not too
many opportunities. I think that's what the Bridge program is about,
and that's what Juice Foundation has funded. And we've are
(03:38):
in our fourth annual year this summer, and you know,
we track the kids and push the kids to sign
up for internships so they can just build their resumes
and the experience. And you know, I design the curriculum,
but hopefully it builds for them to have a more
impacted and a different kind of trajectory. Then what systemically
(04:03):
is laid out for them?
Speaker 1 (04:05):
You said you designed the curriculum, yes, sir, all right,
what does it explain? What does that mean exactly? You
come up with the classes, you come up with the courses,
what exactly does that mean?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
All of above come up with the courses. Also, you know,
when you bring kids into a counter space like m
I T, especially coming from underrepresented community, you want to
make sure that they're comfortable. So, you know, you don't
want to make you want it to come off pretentious,
You don't want it to come off as like above
(04:34):
or anything like that. So when you build the curriculum,
you also need to include things to to level the space.
So we include leadership, you know, seminars which I lead.
We include you know, some yoga depending on We include uh,
some activities just to make the kids feel integrated into
(04:58):
the space. And we build that on top of like
MHM interviewing the professors m T. The shout out to
I T. Shout out to Dalva Newman. She's the the
chairman for the MIT Media Lab. She'll send suggestions of
professors who we think that would be great. First, we
have conversations with them about what they want to communicate
(05:20):
and how they want to communicate it. Then kids don't
want to be sitting there listening to the lectures. You
got to be interactive. They got to be action based learning.
So we combine all of those things together and come
up with a come up with a four day camp
or so, and some kids are they're thinking they're about
(05:41):
to you know, they're coming to Jalen Brown. They think
they're about to play some basketball. But now you got
them in class at T.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
How receptive is the business community to your agenda, your
objective and how much do they facilitate you being able
to accomplish what you're aiming to accomplish?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Uh? The business community, honestly, I think it should and
could be more, but I think, uh, people are kind
of waiting to see kind of what is the next
leading steps. But I thought more people would be reaching out.
I think they you know, they post about it on
social media and they talk about it, you know, online,
(06:25):
but people don't always put you know, their resources into
something they and but then they complain as well when
they when there's something missing. So, uh, we're gonna keep moving,
We're gonna keep put pushing forward. And I'm hopeful and
I'm optimistic that you know, the right people are gonna
align as well.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Now, you know, I asked you the question because look
at all you're doing, look at what your objective is,
who would it want to support that? Nevertheless, you just
start told it's a challenge. Yes, Could it be that
it's a challenge because of what you stand doing and
(07:07):
how principled you are, and you're not somebody that did
we say is going to play the game that corporate
America might want you to play? You ever thought about that?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
I hate the term play the game.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I know what a lot of us do.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
It's twenty twenty four, right, Like it's a different game
than it was in nineteen eighty five. Similar people that
are moving to pieces, but the game is different. I
think that this generation has the progress to be able
to do a lot different things that maybe the generation
that came before wasn't able to through the power of
social media, through the lens of like just the media
(07:48):
in general. Multiple people are starting platforms, multip people are
entrepreneurs and working for theirself. So before like the social
norms of like corporate Americas, like man, you gotta dress
a certain way, speak a certain way, you know, be
a certain way. You got to have a college degree
to be successful. This is what our view is playing
(08:08):
the game twenty twenty four. I think that still exists,
but we've seen that game change where now you could
be yourself. You could dress casually or However, you feel
comfortable to have red, blue, yellow, green hair and people
are still accept you if you're good at your craft.
I think that game is changing. Maybe it hasn't changed
(08:29):
completely yet, but that's what I want people to recognize
as well, that the game is changing. It is not
the same, and it's our responsibility that the next twenty
to fifty years looks different than it looks right now.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Is there an NBA player that you look up to
more than others currently or currently? I can imagine anybody
you're looking up to, anybody more than you looked up
to Bill Russell. God, rest it up. Yeah, you can't
imagine that.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
What's an example? Right?
Speaker 1 (08:56):
But mom and dad present day player like any sport
or any sport doesn't matter. But I'm also going to
ask about the NBA too, because you're in it for sure.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
So one of my good friends is Vinnie Jr. The
soccer player, and he don't speak English as well, but
this summer I got to go to Brazil to get
to experience it with what his culture and what it's
like being him. You know, he plays in Madrid in
Spain and he has a lot of the same issues
(09:29):
that go on in America around, you know, race and
things like that, and and him coming from Brazil, from
the area that he come from and being able to
represent not only his country but South America as well.
And I think he's doing it with class. And I've
(09:49):
been able to just be fly on the wall in
his journey NBA player player.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Yes, I would.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Say, I mean Andre just retired, but that would be
Andre was my mentor, Andre gudaland brother. I pulled a
lot from Kobe Bryant as well. I know Kobe didn't
do a lot of talking either, but I acted a lot.
He acted a lot, and I followed a lot of
his moves. A lot of the reasons why I started
this shoe company is because I read an article around
(10:25):
twenty nineteen or so that Kobe was doing the same
thing before he passed, you know. He I read that
he had a partner, would like the CEO uber or whatnot,
and he wanted to give athletes better percentages and better
deals and allowed them to be able to invest into
the company as it grows. And I thought this was unique,
(10:47):
you know. I remember like seeing this and that they
had a picture of the shoe as well, and I
remember like man how cool would it be if I
could be one of those athletes and I never got
to meet Kobe, you know, and he never got to
shake his hand, never got to build with him. But
you know, some of the stuff that's left behind I
(11:08):
like to to walk in because I think Kobe was
one of the reasons I picked up a basketball in
the first place.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Seven one, that's the sneaker right here, Yes, sir, I
want to make sure I'm accurate here. The number seven
represents spiritual awakening, wisdom and understanding correct. Number four symbolizes
hard work, stability, and practicality. Number one stands for new beginnings,
(11:36):
creativity and independence. Did I do my homework?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah? I got it.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, that's a lot. It's worthy. It ain't nothing. I'm
nothing on it, ain't shade on it whatsoever. But that's
a lot that that that's typical of you.
Host
Stephen A. Smith
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