SAN FRANCISCO — Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown said he believes joining up with Kayne West’s marketing firm is the start of a “beautiful collaboration.”
It became public this week that the Celtics forward was the first NBA player to sign with Donda Sports, a fledgling marketing company that is part of West’s larger clothing line. Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald recently said he’d joined the firm.
“It was time. For me, like I said, anytime I make a life decision, I contemplate. I think about things deeply,” Brown said a day before Thursday’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals (9 p.m. ET, ABC). “And from what I want to do, the missions I want to get accomplished, it was the right decision.”
Brown recently became a shoe free agent after his long-term deal expired with Adidas, who signed him before his rookie season in 2016. He has been active in social justice causes and has said he prefers future endorsement deals to include investments in those areas.
Donda Sports is expected to handle Brown’s marketing deals. His current contract with the Celtics — a four-year, $106 million extension that went into effect in 2020 — was negotiated with NBA agent Jason Glushon.
West and Brown have had a relationship for some time and formalized a partnership late in the regular season. Brown is aware of the criticism West has taken and it doesn’t bother him.
“People have concerns or critiques, etc., but in the world we live in, there’s concerns and critiques in any and everything,” Brown said. “I feel like this is a good moment for me in my particular life. I’m excited to build and create and do things that I’ve always imagined I wanted to do on the court and off.”
