BOSTON — The Celtics returned from a week-long road trip late Tuesday night after a back-breaking loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
On Wednesday, they hosted the Memphis Grizzlies, their 13th game in 22 nights.
Then, on Thursday, they finally had a highly anticipated day off — a chance to see friends and family, step away from basketball, and unwind.
But, for many in the Celtics organization, Thursday night was also doubled as a chance to support Jaylen Brown and his 7uice Foundation, which held its first-ever charity bowling event at Kings Dining and Entertainment.
The foundation, which Brown founded with his mother, Mechalle, shortly after he was drafted by the Celtics, invests in youth from underserved communities through various programming, most notably its annual Bridge camp at MIT.
Bridge is a free, week-long education camp for students from across the Greater Boston who have established themselves as leaders in the community, and has long been one of Brown’s chief passions. This year, the program is expanding beyond just the week-long endeavor in Boston.
“I’ve been here for 10 years now,” Brown said to a room full of Celtics fans, donors, family, and friends. “It really takes everybody just coming together, collaborating, just finding those spaces to share ideas and innovate and think about what Boston can be, but also our community, our society, all of that. We need more of that — now more than ever.”
From the Celtics, Derrick White, Luka Garza, Anfernee Simons, and Ron Harper Jr. all attended the bowling event, as did head coach Joe Mazzulla, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, longtime owner Wyc Grousbeck and other members of the front office.
Alongside, Mazzulla, nearly all of the Celtics coaching staff — including DJ MacLeay, Amile Jefferson, Tony Dobbins, Matt Reynolds, God Shamgod Jr., Nana Foulland, and Steve Tchiengang, among others — also attended the fundraiser, as did Red Sox players Lenny DiNardo and Steve Lyons.
“Today was supposed to be an off day, so big shoutout to these guys for being here today,” Brown said to the room full of fans.
In January, the 7uice Foundation will host an education fair at Roxbury’s longtime community center, the Yawkeye Boys and Girls Club. Corey Manning, the club’s newly-appointed executive director of the of Roxbury, addressed the room and thanked the 7uice Foundation for the support and collaboration.
“Even though I’ve been there a short time, all I hear about is the work that Jaylen Brown has been doing in the club since he moved to Boston,” Manning said. “Just to give you a snippet of it, when he first moved to Boston on his 21st birthday, he celebrated not by going out and partying, not by having just a good time, but by donating $10,000 to the young people [at the Boys and Girls Club]. It’s commitment like that, it’s funders like you and supporters like you who believe in the work that we’re doing that helps us continue to do the work that we do today.”
Mazzulla has routinely stressed the importance of attending off-court events with his players.
Over the summer, he travelled to Montreal for Chris Boucher’s baptism, dropped off wine at Anfernee Simon’s house, visited Derrick White in Colorado, attended Payton Pritchard’s basketball camp, and spoke on a panel with Neemias Queta at Utah State, his alma mater, — among plenty of other endeavors.
The Celtics head coach has also played an integral part Jayson Tatum’s recovery, as he shared earlier this year: “I was there for the first time he walked. I was there for the first time he ran. I was there for the first shots that he took.”
But, this particular event was unique because while it allowed Mazzulla to support Brown’s most prized off-court pursuit, it also achieved other aims.
“It’s not just connecting with that player, it’s connecting with the people of the city and the people of the community that love being a fan of the Celtics or have a passion for Celtics basketball — whether it’s an organization, whether it’s part of the city, or whether it’s just fans,” Mazzulla said.
For Brown, it meant a lot to see his teammates’ support, especially considering how busy the start of the year has been.
“We had a back to back, and then had a day off — we haven’t had a lot of days off this year, so to see guys come on their day off, come and spend time in the community, take pictures and things like that, it’s pretty cool,” Brown said.
Mazzulla thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the charity bowl, and getting the chance to meet Boston residents and diehard fans who purchased tickets to bowl at Kings. All of the proceeds were donated to the 7uice Foundation.
“We could do more of those [kinds of events], because it shows the passion of the player off the court, but also builds a connection to the city and to the fans,” Mazzulla said. “We could work together to have a greater impact than just winning and losing basketball games.“
All night, Brown and his Celtics teammates, snapped photos with fans, chatted with teammates and friends. Several teammates brought their families to the bowling extravaganza.
“Anytime you can get people together around a topic or a subject, around community, education, how we can give back — it’s kind of beautiful to see like,” Brown said. “I love when people are all in the same room trying to figure out how we can make the world a better place.”
