- I got Drop Out.
Damn.
[laughter]
- My name is Jaylen Brown.
I play for the Boston Celtics.
Welcome to GQ.
These are My Essentials.
For my first essential,
I'm gonna go with books.
People who know me,
know I'm a avid book reader,
and things like that.
My library right now,
is actually a little bit trash.
I give a lot of my books away.
So, these first two are suggestions for you guys.
"The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield.
Book talks about breaking down barriers,
moving past resistance,
unlocking, like, the creativity within-
inside of you.
I think that's a good recommendation.
"Pound of Stone"
by Joshua Medcalf.
We have mutual friends.
He wrote a book also called "Chop Wood, Carry Water".
And right now, uh, I'm learning French.
I have a special friend who is teaching me French.
This is essential for me right now.
But the other two is for you.
I prefer reading over watching TV.
I prefer reading over social media.
I prefer reading over a lot of stuff.
Just something about turning the pages,
that I enjoy.
Actually we need to stop the interview.
I can't-
I can't live without this next essential.
Um, before I go to sleep,
when I wake up, etc.
This is, like, most key thing for me is tea.
So I'm actually gonna stop,
cause I'm actually have a glass
right now, so.
All right, all right, stop.
A little bit, a little more.
All right, I appreciate it.
Good look.
Just how I like it.
I actually, uh, travel with tea.
Cause most time, you go to hotels
the tea is trash.
I got all different types.
I just keep some in my bag
when I go places.
Tea helps me, you know, sleep after games.
And sometimes it's hard to come back down
if it's-
if it's an intense game.
So, tea is one of the only things that can
can help me relax after on of those intense games.
My favorite tea depends on the mood I'm in
or how I'm feeling.
If I got a headache or I feel tired
or if I'm ready to go to sleep.
I got a bunch of different teas in here,
but lemon ginger is in my cup right now.
- [Offscreen woman] Do you drink coffee at all or just tea?
- I don't like coffee.
I don't drink coffee.
I never really have.
Tea is life.
I'mma have a tea shop one day.
So, stay tuned for that.
I'm looking forward to having a tea shop in the future.
The next is essential is sage.
If you don't know what this is, you need to get to know it.
Uh, like the same thing with tea,
I like to travel with it in my bag.
When I get to different places that I'm going,
I like to just lightly sage the area.
Just to make sure the aura is clean
when I'm walking into it.
I think I've been sageing for about 5, 4 or 5 years.
Since maybe college.
Things that got introduced to me, actually at Berkeley
by one of my professors.
She taught my Global Poverty and Practice class.
And every time we walked in the class,
she saged the room
and made us acknowledge our privilege
for being able to be where we're at and things like that
and it was actually a really dope class.
Next essential- Lemon Perfect.
You can find this in your local Starbucks.
Shout out to Yanni, CEO.
For- good friend of mine/coach.
If you're looking for a face, look no further.
I got a million dollar smile, so.
Next item, Passport.
I love traveling.
I love taking my family places.
Around this time last year,
I took my family to Egypt to just explore
and see the pyramids and things like that.
Took my grandparents.
And when this is all over,
my first place I'll probably want to go is Tokyo.
I've always wanted to got Tokyo, Japan.
Just to explore, travel.
I love the fashion.
I'm a huge anime fan.
So, when all is said and done,
hopefully that's the first place I'll get to travel to.
Yeah.
Next item I like to travel with is my jewelry box.
Depending on where I'm going
or how long I'm going for
the items might vary or switch up,
but for the most part these are some of things
you might see in my jewelry box.
I keep, like, some crystals in here, a watch, some bracelets
some beer balm.
Gotta make the shorter beard look fresh.
Some custom pieces I wanted to show you guys.
Custom seven, for a piece.
I got this in South Africa.
It's a smoky quartz.
Some custom pendants.
This is my best friend who passed away.
About 2 and a half years ago.
He past away from suicide.
Shout out to Steve's family, we love you.
I'mma come home and get something to eat soon.
- [Offscreen Woman] What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
- Uh, my favorite piece, I'd probably say my Ankh.
I wear this a lot of times under my clothing.
I just wear it as a piece to keep the negative energy away.
And it-
for the most part, it works.
A lot of people, for some reason when I'm wearing it
um, keep a distance,
or don't be coming on no BS.
Uh, that's probably my favorite piece to wear.
- [Offscreen woman] What are some other key things
that you bring for, like, self-care?
I always have a pick for my beard
to keep it, you know, from being tangled up.
They said a lot of people be asking questions,
like about my beard
how do you get your beard so nice?
Dadadada
JB, tell me the secret.
I ain't gonna give you all my secrets,
but I'll tell you I keep a pick.
Make sure it's picked out.
I put the berries and juices in there.
Make sure it's lush, um
and stuff like that.
That's all I can really tell you.
You feel me?
Next item is-
I got this cool hat case off Amazon.
I cut my hair about- almost a year ago
about this summer.
So now I'm able to wear hats.
I ain't never been able to wear hats
for like 5, 6, 7 years.
So now when I travel and stuff
I keep my hats in a hat case like this
and I can just pull 'em out and put 'em on.
Or whatever the case may be.
Just keep it moving.
But my hat collection is picking up fast.
Like, during this quarantine time I've been online,
just buying,
looking for stuff.
Hats and stuff like that.
Especially now, cause I ain't been able to get a haircut.
So, um
I definitely need hats.
ASAP
If somebody knows some GOAT hat plugs, let me know
cause I need some.
I cut my hair, leading up into this season.
Just because I felt like it was time for a change.
Just wanted to see something different.
I used to have like a box.
Everybody used to notice me,
point me out, identify me by my hair
and I just wanted to change it up.
And I just wanted to change it up,
I had it for like a long time.
People knew me, recognize me by my hair cut.
But, to be honest, the reaction was unexpected.
I had no idea so many people cared about my hair.
At the same time, I was appreciative
that a lot of people show support.
And it just gave me an idea,
like how many people knew who I was
and recognized me.
So that was pretty cool.
People who know me, know I like to play chess.
I grew up playing chess.
I was in Chess Club, when I was middle school
up into high school.
I loved playing it with my friends and my family.
Just to keep, you know, keep your mind sharp.
Also, I like playing it with people I just meet
just to get a feel for how they think a little bit
measure they acuity.
But I keep this chess board
and it's, like, foldable.
I can just put all the pieces in here.
I can fold it up and just take it with me.
It's light, it's small.
And if I'm going on vacation or something
I'm definitely bringing out the chess board.
Next, is a record player.
I used to have a travel one.
It broke, so I had to get this one for GQ.
But when I travel I like to take
the little travel record player with me
and bring some dope records and stuff.
I got some records with me.
You know I wanted to show you guys
some of the records that I have.
I got 2Pac, Jimmy Hendrix, the Beatles, Marvin Gaye,
Teddy Pendergrass, Sade,
the Chronic.
This one I want to get signed, Good Kid Nasty,
One of the best albums of all time, K Dot.
Carlos Santana,
Drop Out.
Damn.
Coltrane.
[laughs]
- [Offscreen woman] If you had to pick one from that pile,
which one would you pick?
- Right now, I'mma go with 2Pac.
Today,
All eyes on me, I feel like yeah,
the 2Pac energy is relevant.
So I felt like 2Pac,
He's definitely one of the people I look up to.
Everything he accomplished in his short 25 years of life.
Definitely something to try to follow
and try to chase, so.
I started with my record collection
when I got to the League.
Probably about four or five years ago.
I went to the record store and it was just off to the races.
I just started buying records.
Saving them.
Keeping them in a plastic, just saving them,
so when I ran across them I can get it signed.
I probably have around a hundred.
As I grow and as I get older
it's gonna continue to get bigger and bigger.
But, these are some of my favorites right now.
My next essential is my quarantine essentials.
Which include my mask, I got my gloves one.
The Lysol.
The hand sanitizer.
Extra gloves.
Gotta stay safe in these streets.
Quarantine has been a lot different than I expected.
First 3 weeks to a month, like I really wasn't tripping
For the first time in my life, I got to be home
for an extended period of time.
It's probably been five or six years
since I've been home for a straight month.
I've actually been enjoying spending time with my family
despite, you know, the circumstances going on in the world.
Gotta have the family with you.
The loved ones.
Especially during this time,
hope you got your family with you.
It's a great time to build.
This cube.
My big brother, OG.
Triple OG.
You feel me?
This is my mom.
This is my grandpa, right here.
And uh, we're the Browns.
GQ, thank you for having me.
These were my essentials.
My name is Jaylen Brown.
I'll see you when I see you.