Jaylen Brown revealedĀ he almost skipped the NBA's restart after his grandfather was diagnosed with cancer.
The Boston Celtics forward opened up about his grandfather's diagnosis Tuesday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
āMy grandpa was diagnosed with cancer right before they were talking about going into the bubble,ā Brown said. āHeās been living with me for the past four, five, six months. He needed me around. But when we had the conversation, he didnāt necessarily want to start his chemo.
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āHeās like the toughest guy Iāve ever met, by the way. Heās like a superhero. Heās been to the Vietnam War, heās been shot in the head twice, heās had a heart attack, cancer, COVID, all at the same time and he has beaten it all.ā
How Smart found peace in NBA's Orlando bubble
Brown went on to explain that his grandfather, Willie Brown, had come to terms with his fate. But a conversation convinced Willie to keep on fighting while Brown did the same on the court downĀ in the Orlando bubble.
āHe just said he was done, he said he was tired,ā Brown said. āHow I convinced him was I said I was going to go down there and play, but youāve got to play too. So he liked the sound of that and he signed up.ā
Boston Celtics
Fortunately, Brown adds that his grandfather is "doing great" right now as he continues his treatments. A true fighter, indeed.
The Celtics undoubtedly were happy to have Brown in Orlando as he was one of their most consistent players throughout the NBA restart. The 23-year-old was the team's second-leading scorer in the playoffs, averaging 21.8 points per game.