Mechelle Brown is the mother of the reigning Finals MVP Jaylen Brown. She raised Jaylen and his older brother Quinton as a single mother in Atlanta, and during Super Bowl week, it all came full circle as she was honored at the League of Industry Moms luncheon. She caught up with rolling out to discuss what exactly went into raising Jaylen and give some advice for those hoopers hoping to follow in Brown‘s footsteps.
How did you raise one of the smartest, educated, most well-rounded individuals in the NBA? The basis of that is the foundation of family. My background, and my family’s background, is education. We often say education is our business, and with that being said, four generations of family members went on campuses with graduate degrees or post-graduate degrees. Jaylen didn’t have an option when it came to education. My mother, his mother, my grandparents, he was raised to know education makes a difference.
How did Jaylen Brown start playing chess? Jaylen and his older brother Quinton, they would go and stay with two sets of grandparents, one in Michigan and one set of grandparents in Kentucky. And he learned to play chess with his grandfather that lived in Kentucky. So, as a young child, I think probably 9 or 10 years old, he picked up the game. And with that being said, chess is like life, the strategizing, being able to determine how you will move in life. And he very well equates everything to chess. So that was a very big learning experience for him and impacted his life going forward.
Were you shocked when Jaylen Brown was named Finals MVP? And what was the reaction from the family? Well, I was not shocked, and I’ll tell you why. It’s because of his work ethic. He understands that it takes, in his mantra, faith, consistency, hard work pays off, and he continues to display that. And to be the kind of athlete with a great mental fortitude, I knew that he would do great things on the court. With the Finals MVP. I wasn’t shocked that he received that because it was the hard work that was displayed on the court as the reason why he received that. And with the family, it was an emotional moment because my mom passed away two years ago, and he said my mom came to him in a dream and told him that everything was going to be all right. So when you see the pictures of me, my glasses are all steamed and I’m crying. But it’s because he said that she came to comfort him, to give him peace. And that’s what gave him the strength to do what he did and play as he played. So that brought my heart joy to know that my mom came to him and that was the reason why he felt comfortable and felt at ease. So that was why it was emotional.
What are some tips or advice for moms raising future NBA players? I am a person of deep faith. My thing with being able to have a deep faith, and as I said before on stage, just having confidence in yourself raising your child to be confident and secure in what and who they are because in the end basketball is not, no matter how tall you are no matter how well you play the game basketball, is what you do it is not who you are. So who you are becomes making your mark on the world using your platform doing being of service giving back so just being a good human being knowing what your goals are and being able to have confidence and focus to be able to reach those goals. That’s what I would say to tell young athletes coming up today.
