For Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, the summer has been a heavy lift with little time for rest.
"No, no rest," Brown told NBC10 Boston. "The season itself, this past season, it was a lot for sure. It was a lot of ups and downs from the beginning all the way to the end. And the summer has been a lot as well, but this is what you sign up for."
At times, it seems Brown has had as much on his plate in the off-season as he does during the basketball year. A recently-completed negotiation for a lucrative contract extension and a leadership role with the NBA Players Association has consumed much of his summer.
Something else that has kept him busy is a relentless effort to amplify the impact of his Boston-based nonprofit, the 7uice Foundation.
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We found Brown this week with Boston students, learning about science and technology at MIT.
About 100 students are enrolled as part of the Bridge Program, a collaboration between Brown's 7uice Foundation, MIT Media Lab and Boston Public Schools.
The students, between the eighth and twelfth grades, show a hunger to learn that is bigger than the resources that are typically available to them.
"The Bridge Program is designed to find those students with that penchant to want to learn or change the world and give them the resources," Brown said. "The world's betting on them to lose. I'm betting on them to win."
Brown grew up in a single-family home in Marietta, Georgia, and describes his childhood as "humble beginnings." Now, he holds the richest contract in NBA history.
It's been an incredible journey; Brown wants his foundation to find young people with similar childhoods and help them create paths like his own.
