WATCH: Jaylen Brown Gives Kid At Rucker Park A Pair Of His Unreleased Shoes

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown made his way to Rucker Park in New York City recently and spent some time with kids there. At one point, Brown quizzed them about who the famous player with an afro who played at the park was, with the winner getting his unreleased shoes. One kid correctly went with Julius Erving and was over the moon when the 27-year-old gave him his sneakers.

It’s a day that the boy won’t forget for the rest of his life. I hope he rushed home soon too, because some of those other kids wanted those shoes as well. As for those shoes themselves, not much is known about them just yet.

Brown has been a sneaker free agent since 2021, but once he won Finals MVP after leading the Boston Celtics to the 2024 NBA championship, you felt that wouldn’t be the case for much longer. The 27-year-old was the first winner of the award not to have a shoe deal in nearly 50 years but there’s no word yet on which brand he intends to sign with.

One brand we can probably rule out is Nike, thanks to all the Team USA drama. Brown also appeared to throw shade at Nike executives back in July, so that doesn’t appear to be a partnership that either side would be looking at.

Getting back to Rucker Park, Brown wasn’t the only notable name present there, with rapper ASAP Ferg accompanying him. These two have seemingly spent a good bit of time together this NBA offseason, with Brown releasing a song titled ‘Just Do It’ with ASAP Ferg in August.

Jaylen Brown Says The Celtics Now Have A Target On Their Way

The last team to defend the NBA title was the Golden State Warriors in 2017/18 and the Celtics are looking to match that feat next season. Brown spoke about the Celtics’ quest to defend the title.

“Last year is over, to be honest. We celebrated, we had a good time, it’s been an awesome summer — I’ve been having a great summer, by the way — but it’s over with, and now it’s back to work. Now we got the target on our back, everybody is trying to come after us, and I’m like, ‘Come on.’ It’s back to work and I’m looking forward to next season.”

The Celtics have embraced the fact that they’re going to be the hunted next season, after being a hunter for so long. As of now, I do think they’re favorites for 2024-25, but then again, that was the case with the Denver Nuggets as well, after they won it all in 2023.

Staying at the top has proven to be very difficult in the NBA recently, but the Celtics might just be better equipped to do so than the other recent title-winning teams. Their starting lineup is the best in the NBA and they have so many players who are capable of stepping up and taking over games.

Brown did that fairly often in the postseason and ended up averaging 23.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game. The three-time All-Star silenced his critics in the process and it’ll be interesting to see if he takes another step next season.