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The Summer League games are here, where the majority of the NBA's lesser-known young talents get a chance to hone their skills and step into the spotlight before the league's superstars take charge in the regular season.
Monday's Summer League clash in Salt Lake City between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers was a good one, with the Celtics prevailing with a nail-biting 89-88 victory thanks to a go-ahead jumper from the third-overall pick from this year's draft, Jayson Tatum, with less than six seconds left in the contest.
While the game's biggest spectacle was the head-to-head encounter between Tatum and fellow rookie and first-overall pick Markelle Fultz, it was Boston's second-year forward Jaylen Brown who looked like the best player on the court. Brown finished with game-highs of 29 points and 12 rebounds.
Shortly after the final buzzer, ESPN's Chris Forsberg got a hold of Brown, who had this to say about the hosting state:
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Jaylen Brown: "No offense to Utah but I don’t want to do nothing else out here but play. I came here to play basketball.”
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) July 4, 2017
It's worth noting that Brown's Celtics are in the free-agency sweepstakes for Utah Jazz superstar Gordon Hayward. As such, the Cal product's remarks could be in relation to the Celtics' overall basketball culture and legacy in comparison to Utah's.
Another interpretation (and a better one) would be that Brown took a jab at the state itself for being a place that lacks the type of debauchery NBA players seek out once the sun goes down. In a recent related case, Golden State forward Matt Barnes expressed his desire to face the Los Angeles Clippers in the playoffs instead of the Jazz simply because there's no nightlife in Utah.
Brown's subtle remarks towards the Beehive State come off as passive-aggressive, which can be left open for interpretation.
