I know he was hated (or at the very least disliked) by more than a few Celtics fans for his opinionated nature, and his foibles on the court, and a number of folks who just saw him as an athlete (which to be honest is most fans, we don't get to know the people that the athletes are, all we care about is whether they can put a ball in the hoop to make us happy every night) wanted him shipped out, but it's worth mentioning that JB made an impact on his community in Boston beyond his PPG or his Finals MVP or the championship he helped bring to the city.. Those folks who he was able to help, via his foundation, training camps, and other things will miss his impact off the court more than his impact on the court.
Terrence Clarke had a vision: that the basketball court at the Vine Street Community Center in Roxbury, where he learned to hoop and launched his dreams, would someday be named in his honor.
Clarke grew into a star at the University of Kentucky. He was just 19, and preparing for the NBA draft, when his life was cut short in a tragic traffic accident in April 2021.
But one of his dreams came true: The basketball court at Vine Street was beautifully renovated and named in his honor that November. The day of the rededication was a star-studded event. Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart and Clarke?s fellow Kentucky alum John Wall were all there.
But the headliner was Clarke?s friend and idol, Jaylen Brown.
?We have a saying we like to say in our family, that energy lives forever,? Brown said that day. ?And as long as we uphold his name and speak of his name in high spirits, Terrence is still alive. We wanted to honor him in the way he needs to be honored.?
Befriending a local kid with hoop dreams was nothing unusual for Brown. He has built a connection to the city that is truly rare for a star athlete.
Brown is frequently and rightly lauded for the work of his 7uice Foundation, and his desire to address income inequality in the city. But that work, important as it has been, is just one measure of the many ways he showed up in Boston.
Mayor Michelle Wu ? who described herself Thursday as cycling through ?stages of mourning? in the wake of the trade ? first met Brown that day at Vine Street.
They would go on to see a lot of each other, because his community projects were so active and varied, ranging from advocating for juvenile justice reform to being a champion for emerging small businesses.
?He helped pass legislation,? Wu said. ?He would just show up unannounced to city parks where a local basketball tournament was going on. He invested in local entrepreneurs. I?ve been at MIT with him, at the MFA, at parks, and in community centers.
?My sense is that Boston respected his drive and his hunger to be the best and to take care of our community. That?s who we are as a city and that?s what he embodied from day one.?
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/02/metro/jaylen-brown-trade-celtics-philadelphia/
