"Nobody surpassed Michael Jordan since, not even LeBron James" - Jaylen Brown goes no-hold-barred over brands using athletes as cash cows 

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown appeared as a guest on the YouTube Channel "Earn Your Leisure" on Sunday and discussed the business side of being a professional athlete. He also talked about the relationship between brands and the players.

Brands and professional athletes have long been tied together due to endorsements. Because of their talent and popularity, athletes are employed to be the face of some brands. However, Brown said that this relationship is often one-sided, favoring the brand heavily.

According to him, this is a problem that several athletes have already faced.

"A lot of our players have complaints," Brown said (1:00:16). "Throughout time they've been mistreated. Once they've finished their deal or their contract, they can't put out things as quickly as they need. They can't get them to their community or their family members. They don't own their IPs so they have no say so. They're forced to renegotiate deals post being a superstar and generating this amount of revenue for a brand."

Brown added that athletes don't speak up about this because of the embarrassment and that it is a constant cycle that happens. However, he said that players don't get lucrative deals with one notable exception.

"(Michael) Jordan was 1 of 1," Brown said (1:02:00). "Nobody has surpassed Jordan since. Not LeBron (James). We're in a whole different era. That was almost 40 years ago."

Brown is one of the vice presidents of the NBPA, a position he's had since 2019. He is in a unique situation that likely allows him to listen and assist players who face these kinds of issues.

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Jaylen Brown declined to sign an endorsement deal with Nike

One of the feuds in the NBA involves Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown. However, it does not involve another player, but the well-known sports apparel brand, Nike.

It started in 2022 when Kyrie Irving, Brown's ex-teammate, was accused of anti-Semitism and was released by Nike. Phil Knight, the co-founder of the company, commented on Irving's release by saying that he "stepped over the line."

It earned a response from Brown.

"Since when did Nike care about ethics?" Brown tweeted on Nov. 10, 2022.

Brown's beef with Nike was reignited in 2024 when he was snubbed from the Team USA roster. There have been rumors that Nike influences the decisions on who makes the roster and Brown's exclusion led to him to tweet again.

"@Nike this is what we doing?" Brown tweeted in July.

Brown said that he won't sign with Nike even if it increases the likelihood of him earning a spot on Team USA in the future. Instead of signing an endorsement deal with any known brands, Brown opted to launch his own, 741.