 How's everybody doing tonight? You guys feeling good tonight? Yeah? You guys excited to meet Jalen Brown? Yes So it's so amazing to see all here. My name is David Sun Kong. I'm the director of the community biotechnology initiative here at the media lab So I'm a synthetic biologist, which means that I work on developing technologies to make the living world easier to engineer I'm also a DJ and a photographer and a mediocre rapper and beatboxer But most importantly for today, I'm a massive massive Celtics fan. So I grew up in the Boston area bleeding green Watching the 80s Celtics. So that maybe dates me a little bit. I'm actually today's my birthday. So I just put that out there. Yeah So I personally can think of a better present than to be able to Spend some time with with both Jalen Brown and also Kate Crockford who's gonna be hopping up here in a second So, you know, we kind of went through that this this very lean, you know decade of 90s Boston Celtics Into the big three era and now I think we're kind of in like the big five era probably right We got basically, you know all-stars at every position and hopefully, you know some up-and-coming all-stars this year, too So it's a real real Renaissance for Celtics basketball. So anyways, this is an official ML talk And so this is our talk series here at the media lab We're gonna do the conversation and then we'll have an opportunity for Q&A And so I think at some point in the back here. Yes You can ask questions by Twitter hashtag ML talks or visit Slido and then send your questions there And they'll pop up on a screen and what we'll ask them that way I'm also for those of you that may not have technology if you don't have a card or a Or a phone with you Chia who is over there So Chia has a series of no cards in the back So you've questions you can also write them down there and I'm sure we'll get them to us in the front And so those are kind of the basic logistical elements and And yeah, I really just couldn't be more excited today to bring Jaylin Brown here to the media lab to come and have a conversation with us And and I've before we do that I'm super super excited as well to introduce my co-host for this evening Kade Crockford So Kade is the director of technology for Liberty program at the ACLU and it's also a director's fellow at the labs everybody Big warm around round of applause for Kade Crockford And So so before we brought out Jaylin Kade I thought it'd be great for you to introduce yourself to the audience and also to the internet I forgot to mention this this events also being live streams. So hello internet Kade yeah, hi everybody as David said, my name is Kade Crockford I run something called the technology for Liberty program at the ACLU here in Massachusetts Basically, we work to ensure that your digital rights are maintained mostly first and fourth amendment rights But also now we're looking into stuff like artificial intelligence and machine learning and the impacts that those technologies are having on civil rights And civil liberties shout out to join the front row. We rely on a lot of her work So it's really wonderful to be here at the lab Surrounded by so many practitioners of these tools and I'm honored to be here. So thanks David Amazing so everybody I think without any further ado We're gonna welcome Jaylin and so Jaylin I think as you all know is a is an NBA player for the bar hometown Boston Celtics He played one season at Cal Berkeley We earned first team all Pac-12 and Pac-12 freshman of the year honors But beyond that, of course Jaylin has really really deep interest off the court with passions reading from Spanish to history Finance technology meditation philosophy social justice and beyond and we're gonna get into all of that and more right here on stage So everybody, please join me in welcoming welcoming from the Boston Celtics Jaylin Brown So Jaylin welcome to MIT welcome to the Media Lab I know we've had a got got to spend a little bit of time together and visiting the building and checking out the space Well, what are your first impressions of MIT so far? I feel I feel smarter already So so again, you know the Media Lab We had a nice chance to check in with Joey and talk a little bit as well And you got to see you know Joyce projects and some of the other projects of the lab Was there anything that kind of struck out stood out to you so far from your your visit? Yeah, right away the first place I got to see was the Civic Media Lab and basically for people who don't know what it is It's just basically connecting technology to like social justice issues And it's a it's a really really dope space and stuff that I'm just now getting introduced with and It's like the forefront of like what civil rights is gonna look like in the future So it's really dope to get to see that Yeah, and Cade, you know again This is one of your major areas expertise is looking at that intersection between, you know raise social justice and AI So, you know wonder, you know with joy's work and kind of Jalen's position as a young emerging star in the NBA How do we kind of pull that all together? What's what's the opportunity there for Jalen? Well, if you'd like to be a spokesman for the ACLU We can talk about that later Yeah, I mean, you know the work that like I said the work that joy has done here at the lab has really helped us a lot at the ACLU because We're trying to figure out, you know technology moves so quickly in in this building Right and in places like this all over Kendall and in Silicon Valley and the law moves quite slowly Actually, it's it does not move at the same speed of the development of technology And so it's a real challenge for us to to not only stay on top of the Accelerating demands on civil rights that technology is producing but also to be able to communicate the threats and the Opportunities frankly that those technologies pose to lawmakers and to courts, right? So, you know being here at the lab is a really important thing for the ACLU because you know the work for example that joy did showing And I think you saw this project that face face recognition systems that companies like Microsoft and other large Technology companies are developing are not race neutral right like everything else in our society they are actually not colorblind and Tend joy's work showed to be able to recognize white faces with almost a hundred percent accuracy white male faces And are really really bad at recognizing darker female faces Which has you know a clear impact on civil rights and civil liberties particularly when we see things like you know The US customs border patrol using face recognition now at airports to you know basically perform security checks You know it's just like I said it's actually imperative that we have that kind of research because It really helps us make the arguments to lawmakers and to courts about why these technologies are dangerous and why we need You know to pay a whole lot more attention to not just the impacts that they're gonna have but actually the way that the technologies themselves work So and to kind of connect that you know Jalen with with a lot of your passions Right one thing we talked about Was this whole idea of anti disciplinary research which you know for those of you that are new to the Media Lab? One of the big ethos is that we have is that is that you know when you look at different technologies? There's kind of silos, but you know chemistry biology or the arts But you know really kind of the magic happens in the white spaces in between all of those disciplines And so I think you're you're feeling that term anti disciplinary research and I just learned that term like 30 minutes ago Like I we say intersectionality, but it's just basically the combination of like learning different things and bringing them together And I guess that's kind of why I'm here as being an athlete a person of influence and talking about technology I've been in the harbor and talked about education a lot of times We dichotomize them as like separate like education technology Sports music all those different things are separate You know and a lot of times we forget to build those bridges and connections in between them And I think that it's very powerful to be able to do that So you know and again, you know I think one of the things that's been so exciting learning about you is all of the different passions that you have Off the court, right? So I wonder if you could share a little bit more about you know Kind of what are some that what are some of those passions that you have these days? You're really exploring nice just hobbies like just like anybody else I don't think I'm any different from or any more spectacular than any of you guys that are here It's just having different hobbies and my goal is just to be very successful in my hobby I'm going for but what are some of your favorite ones right now? What are some of the ones you're focused on right now? I'm taking guitar lessons taking Arabic lessons. I'm doing some streaming with Twitch Like like really? Yeah, so I just got into the video game thing. I've never been like a heavy Video game player, but I went to Twitch. I went to Twitch's campus up in the Bay Area And it's really taking over the world in terms of kids You can be any skin color shape size and you can to be a video game player You could be it's it could be anything You know I mean so for me to be able to to tap into that and get on start streaming and putting it online I think that's gonna be pretty cool Very cool, man And so I'm wondering to you know again going back to the the anti-disciplinary concept like you know Do you feel like some of the interest that you have you know be it through language philosophy chess and so on like do those? Do those different forms of expression influence your play at all so I mean You know I know for me for example like as a DJ I actually feel like being a DJ helps my science It's something that I didn't put together early on but like later on like I felt like all of those different interests like really really benefited Me as a person do you are you seeing any different ways that that those those forms of expression for you are? Influencing your career Absolutely, I think they all have to do with not only my career But just life in general in terms of situations like I grew up I used to play chess and I think that's the best thing that I picked up at an early age Because when I started making decisions and have to make tough decisions like choosing a college You know I mean and things like that like chess helped me see like the long the end game Rather than so much worried about what's going on in the beginning So all of that stuff kind of relates not only in my career, but my life as well amazing amazing So I just want to bring a little bit in you know some of your interests around tech and innovation too So you know one thing that that and for those of you that all that may not know You know Jalen's you've organized a couple of technology some that's actually and you've done a lot of work Organizing a lot of the younger players some of the newer players in the league and so I'm wondering you know and again You I think you interned at a VC firm and then you also you know saw some Y Combinator pitches Is there a particular way that you feel like technology is playing a role in your career both on and off the court? Absolutely, I'm so fascinated and the reason why I'm here is like technology is like always been like the forefront of like industrializations in the United States Anything in terms of like the betterment of society making things more efficient for human activity Technology has always been like the leader of that. So you you come to MIT. What better place is to start here? And so just this is a softball question, you know, I know that you did go to Harvard So you prefer MIT to Harvard, right? Plead to fit right I Know I just from your expression. I think we all know what the answer is so we're right But I felt that in my heart, Jalen. All right And so so yeah, you know again thinking about you know the long term of your career You know you've got all these different interests And so do you feel like there's something kind of about how your career is unfolding that may be a little different than other Professional athletes or other players in the NBA? What do you mean? I don't know man I mean, you know, we I've heard you talk about this before you know this idea that You know kind of certain athletes like the multi-dimensionality of athletes is is often You know if like people are surprised that you have all these intellectual passions and pursuits for example do you feel like That you're looking at your career in a different way than some other athletes like our certain are certain athletes Maybe too focused on the court and your interests are so varied. Is there is there something unique about that? Or do you feel like there's a trend in the league towards multi-dimensionality I think it's definitely changing Society puts a lot of pressure on athletes just to be athletes like they any time you make any type of political statement Or anything that has to do outside of basketball. So it's a pushback like you're we're paying you millions of dollars We don't want to hear you talk about Education we don't want to see you at MIT We just want to see you at Boston playing basketball and it's changed so much in the last 20 years in the last 10 years or so In terms of like an athlete having Influence and being able to talk and being that having a voice really you seen on LeBron James and Kevin Durant talk about with the shut up and dribble thing that kind of really Sparked it up and have people talking and things like that But being able to not be put into a box is my whole thing, you know being able just how Everybody has hobbies just how people have day jobs and then they go watch sports and go watch the Celtics play or Whether you're a fan of like I like sports is my day job and I like to do other things as well So man, and so you know again, you know you said earlier, right? You know you've got your hobbies, but you also want to be great at your hobbies, right? You know, and I think that's one thing You know for you as a huge fan of yours and the Celtics fan, you know watching you train And all the videos you're posting on on social media and so forth Like what inspires you to be great? I mean, you know not everybody wants to be you know I learn how to play the guitar, but I'm not like, you know, I mean I don't have like a the necessary of the mentality to be great But it feels like you have a you know kind of a DNA for greatness in these different domains Appreciate that Thank you. I guess my source of infrared my source of inspiration. I guess we'll be sitting in the front row my mom Mom, could you stand up for a second, please? Yeah She doesn't like attention so she's gonna get me for that That's my number one source of inspiration and motivation from the beginning and times but as you travel you have different experiences You start to see and pull from different places. I read a book called still like an artist I'm forgetting the author's name, but like The concept of the book was basically When you everybody's learned or got it from somewhere else, you know things people Get ideas they gravitate towards different things and they just compile it and start some of the most creative companies That's ever been about so that's kind of how I look at it. Like I've been the fashion week in Paris I've been to Bloomberg and had technology summits I've been to a lot of different places different countries Indonesia And I've seen different things that just always catch my eye and I just added added I write it down is the first thing and then I just add it to my my repertoire So in addition to your mom and again, it's been really great hanging out with your mom and your family So great that you brought everybody here You know again mentorship seems to be like a really big part of your life You've only been in the year two three years, but you've already been mentoring a lot of the younger players You want to just comment a little bit about your your role or what you feel mentorship Why it's important and then the follow-up is you know Who are some of your mentors where some of the big people in your life, you know, other than mom? Well, I'll start with that question first. I think I've had a lot of mentors You can learn one thing my mom tell me you can learn something from anybody So I've had a lot of people that I pulled information from but some of the people that have really stood out that people will recognize and know like P. Diddy Sean, Sean Combs. I've heard him His thing was like for me when I met him my friend. I met him right out of college. I was 19 and I came and sat on in his office and We just had a mutual friend or a mutual connection between friends and I told him I really wanted to meet him and sit down with him And he was he was selling me on the water that they had just came out with Like that's the reason why he wanted me to be here, but I wanted to talk to him about some totally different He was trying to give me the Sponsor or use my influence for aqua hydrate or something like that. So he said a lot of people Have tried to be in his office and he looked at me right now. I said, why are you here? So that that struck me in the sense that was the first question that it was impactful in the terms like it made me be like You know, why am I here? Not even just like here in his office Like why am I here on his planet? Why am I on the Boston Celtics? What am I here to do? You know and I just started thinking about what is my influence? What is my purpose and how can I help and affect people? So why were you there? I was there to talk to him about you know I was just there to see Diddy, you know And we started talking about multiple means of influence just how he was a Producer he was a you know, he had his own clothing line now. He has his own line of vodka He's done so many different things and he's taken serious in so many different avenues And it was the word that I always like to say was multiple means of influence So and maybe that you know my final two questions in this in this section You know again going back to the leadership abilities, you know You've expressed I think some interest in the players association and playing a more prominent role there And again, you know, you're really doing a lot of leadership. It feels like amongst the younger players Do you have kind of aspirations beyond basketball for other types of leadership roles? I'm not necessarily asking you if you're gonna be you know, senator of Massachusetts and 20 whatever but but yeah, maybe you know But yeah, do you have do you have those types of aspirations and leadership? You could say that I think Just and it's I guess is it either you're a leader or you're a follower, right? And I choose to be a leader in a sense But to lead you have to know how to follow, right? Is that what they say? Yes, this sounds like that sounds about right, right? I think that's a saying yeah, but Yeah, I have some aspirations in this earn like I want to be first my first goal I wanted to be I want to be the player president of the union Hopefully I can be the youngest one to point it, but we'll see how things turn out amazing and then You know question here. This is there's a big question, but how do you want to be remembered when your basketball career is over? Man, I just don't want to be forgotten. I think that's the biggest thing I just want to make an impact in terms that you know, maybe people remember me not only for you know Hopefully people remember me not for what I did on the basketball floor But a lot of people remember me for what I do outside the basketball court as well Just lead a bit leave this place better than I found it ultimately So we want to talk about that but before we do I just want to follow up on the union question What is it about? The the goal to be the president of the players union like what do you want to do in that role? What do I want to do? Just basically be a bridge I think being in that position and and I think Chris Paul has done a great job in terms of being in that position And you've seen a lot of this stuff emerge and things that they partner with and things that they're doing now in terms of moving along with the future You see what the union is doing now. They're doing like investment They're doing some v they have some vcs that they hire now. They're doing venture capital work in terms of like balancing out the leverage between players and owners I won't say too much, but There's a lot of stuff that's going on that Basketball players they say shouldn't know about It's a lot of business deals or a lot of things that that disparity is different and we see that we're taking it back a lot of that power In today's time worker power, right? So on the question of social justice, you know, you've written in the Guardian you've spoken publicly about the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States about You know the reaction to Kaepernick's decision to kneel and the NFL Can you talk a little bit about first like what motivates you to speak about those issues that you know potentially could Both have positive and negative consequences for you personally What motivates me I think like everybody our pain is what what drives us, you know Seeing different things in your neighborhood seeing different things around you and then going to a university like Berkeley a liberal University and you start to be able to put a term to your pain You like you got the now you have a name for what you seem or what you Experienced so that was like my biggest motivation like when I first that foot at UC Berkeley I took an education class and I started learning about all the different inequality and social injustice that you see the subtle Like racism and stereotypes you see in the education system. It was a name for it So I didn't know that there was an I'm thinking this is just coincidental So when I figured it out that this is by design like it started making me passionate It started motivate me to start talking about this and here we are today Yeah, it's not an accident it turns out right and actually you Before when we were talking you said you had been doing some reading about MIT in the history of MIT Is there anything you want to share about that? Oh Anything I want to share. I know MIT was founded in what 1861 by William Rogers I know that it was post civil was before the Civil War It was just basically just an industrialization of like the technology age in America Just needed some type of change and it's similar to where we're at now in terms of like we're still in that In dust relays where we're still trying to see what's next and we're forever in it But that said also I did some reading about Robert Robertson Taylor It was like the first African-American to graduate from here Ellen Richards was the first woman to graduate from here. So I did some research cool, so One of the things that you've talked about previously that has really struck with me is this concept that in the United States Sports are used as a tool of social control. So can you talk a little bit more about that and maybe specifically unpack? Do you mean it's used as a tool of social control in terms of controlling athletes or the public or both? Can be used can be used. So it's Sport I love sports, you know people when I said that I got a some backlash and said, why are you your NBA player? Why are you why what do you have to say about sports? Why are you talking shit about sports? is what they're saying but Sports as a as a mechanism can be a mechanism of control of sports is basically saying that sports not only is a part of the society where it's like it's a outlet for aggressive energy in terms of Kids with their experience in especially lower-to-middle class they use sports as an avenue to to release Not only just people who play people who watch and a lot of people in here can relate like when you go to a basketball game I saw this game after work. It's just like you can just Let loose, you know the same thing with somebody how I felt when I was a basketball when I was an athlete growing up Single-parent household, you know everything that was going on in my home situation Like sports was a way to just get away from that and that plays an influential role in America in terms of keeping people distracted But also keeping like a control over masses And maybe to just to bring it a little bit local here too, you know for the franchise you play for the Boston Celtics By the way, I just feel like let's go Celtics chance. It's like appropriate not not right now But in general you want to do it later But but you know the Celtics right have a really interesting history with race relations So the team itself and you know, there's some facts that I've been learning as well But the Celtics are the first NBA franchise to draft an African-American player Chuck Cooper in 1950 The first NBA team to send an all-black starting lineup on the floor in 1964 And then Bill Russell was the first African-American coach in the NBA So all of that was happening at the same time that Bill Russell had a very very tumultuous Relationship and experienced a lot of racism in this town in the 60s And so I'm wondering if you have any reflections about, you know, kind of the history of the Celtics and kind of where we are today in 2018 Um, it's dope. It's dope to know the history of the Celtics and then be playing for them It's amazing when you start to hear stories from like People who are older than me my elders and they tell you about, you know I used to rock with the Celtics just for that specific reason or just because of that specific reason It almost makes it feel like it's fitting In the sense like I was drafted to the right place and I'm happy to be here in Boston So to get back to Social change and politics We sort of briefly mentioned Kaepernick, right? What do you think if anything has changed in us sports and this could be the NBA the NFL whatever Since Kaepernick, you know made the decision last year to take a knee. I think the awareness is like through the roof I think everybody's concerned I think what what Kaepernick did like a lot of owners are nervous and scared that that somebody on their team is Going to do the same thing So everybody's on like a like on shaky grounds in terms because nobody wants to deal like the media the team Nobody wants to deal with no political issues and and things like that just because it's just a lot to deal with But what Kaepernick did and put his career on the line is is it's it takes a lot like it's More than most would do that. I mean a lot of people would do that. So In terms of being out being able to see him winning a war Yesterday at Harvard the W. Du Bois the war was was special because not only was he It's it was uncomfortable for him Which I got to see because he's getting a reward for other people's pain. So he didn't feel like happy about it You know, he felt like he just had to be there just because he had to be there and just to see like interactions with him Was was really cool for me He's also suffered though, right? I mean quite a bit for the decision that he made and you know And for refusing to back down in the face of you know threats from the NFL and even from the president of the United States, right? Who has turned? Kaepernick's kneeling into like a campaign issue that he rails about. Yeah, I think he's content though. He lost over 50 million dollars because of him taking a knee like Nobody I don't think anybody in his room would probably would do that and that's what makes him special Like would you give up 50 million dollars? That's what that's what intrigued me about him because not a lot of people would do that and for him to put himself in the line like That for a cause that he thought that everybody thinks is important was is amazing simply amazing And there's I'm assuming but you can tell us because you are a professional athlete There's a sense of solidarity among pro athletes across sports with with Kaepernick stand Yeah, like people people respect respect them for sure. They respect the they respect his his his protests But they respect his sacrifice as well because you got you got to think pro athletes. We got families. We got Some of us have kids wives, etc. Or business aspirations and and things outside of basketball that they were football or whatever sport that they Want to do to sacrifice to that a bunch of amount of money is Tough for anyone, you know, so we definitely respect Collin Kaepernick and saloon for that So one thing that that's kind of interesting though to me is like, you know in basketball It feels like you know the past two years Before the the finals were even over, you know, both both the calves and the Warriors were like, yeah We're not gonna go to the White House, right and it feels like there was a real kind of united front You know LeBron Seth KD It was just yeah, it felt it felt like Trump is kind of like, you know poking the NFL And there's been all of this kind of division and things that have happened there But the NBA it just feels like there's been more of a united front I don't know if that's if that's an accurate description. You think or or if you you as a player feel that way about the league Um, I guess it's subjective. I think I Guess the team the Warriors the last few years have been able to win a championship They have similar like-minded guys that feel the same the same way, but I guess it's football is more players So it's hard to come together as a group and decide something between 60 to 80 players You got 11 12 13 14 guys come together to make a decision. It's a little bit easier So you talked about your mom being an inspiration for you Was there anybody who inspired you to think critically about politics your role in the world? You know racism white supremacy someone or or even a book that you read that really inspired you to think differently about About politics. That's a good question. I've actually never got that question before so I have to sit here and think Can we come back to that? So the last question in this section around you know social and political Challenges basically I guess it's a very vague question. So you should feel free to say I'm not answering that. Are you crazy? What do you see as like the main challenge facing the United States socially or politically right now? I mean, there are a lot of them obviously so what do I see is the main challenge? Yeah, socially and politically That's another good question The main challenge I just think It's hard to really say I can give my opinion. Yeah but My opinion is different from everybody's in here. So I think the main challenge is just I Think the wealth disparity is a definitely a challenge which starts to form into inequality because I think it's all about money I think really what it is. I don't think Racism exists, but like it's a group of people who are comfortable being More successful than others and I think that when the wealth disparity starts to change and then Social inequality starts to decimate in 2018 things like social constructs are becoming not a thing Like in terms of I talked to my family about this a lot Things that used to be like in place and embedded are starting to dissipate in terms of like how you're supposed to look How you're supposed to dress? What kind of hair color you got your gender these starting things are starting to not to matter in terms of you can have red or blue hair and Dress any type of way and be the smartest guy in the room and people will respect you in that sense 10 or 15 or 20 years ago you walking to an interview with red or blue hair like what is he doing? You get out of here, you know, you start to see things start to change Over time and I'm just hopefully I'll be a part of the generation where it starts to become a little bit more Equal so we can involve not only is just Business people or educators or people in technology, but as human beings You know stop looking at people in these boxes and saying that because he's an athlete or because she's short or he's tall Or he's white or he's black that things should be a certain way You know, I disagree with that and I challenge that statement So just to build on that like do you feel like there's a particular way that you see your role in that change? Possibly maybe that's why I'm here Maybe me seeing my role and as being an athlete and start to untangle some of the Stereotypes about athletes, maybe that'll start to a chain reaction and other things as well, but I don't that's my first time Even really looking at it in that sense. I just Keeping it a bug just being myself and and going from there one of the best Quotes that I saw from you from an interview was that you said that you're either you're either fly in the room All right, you're so you're either fly on the wall or the elephant in the room Yeah, is that right? I'm gonna fly on the wall or the elephant in the room you choose So hopefully, you know, you know here too at the lab We can support you in and while you're the fly on the wall until you're ready it to be the elephant in the room So amazing, I think anything else you want to ask Kate this part? I Don't think so. I mean if you if you can think of a book or someone who's inspired Oh, yeah, hold that one. Hold that one But but no pressure if it's something that you know, I would say When I first got the cow I took an education 38 class and our first reading we got was a pedagogy of the press and it was about Paolo It was a Paulo Freire or Freire and he's a Brazilian educator and he devoted his devoted his life's work To education and and that was one of the things that kind of really stood out to me There's a really amongst educators. It's like one of the significant pieces. I would think and That would be one of the pieces that stood out to me Awesome. Awesome. So let's talk a little bit about kind of what's happened to you in the off-season, too So, you know, you mentioned in earlier that one of the places that you went to was Indonesia I got some some family here from from Indonesia as well And and yeah, so I'm curious, you know It feels like each each kind of experience that you have like opens your mind and really kind of gives another another part of Your part of the puzzle for Jalen. So do you have any any particular reflections about your trip to Indonesia? I could she thought Camu Indonesia Which means like I love you Indonesia was great like for me to be able to travel For me to be able to travel, you know, 20 hours away from where I'm comfortable at and be somewhere where I'm not It just makes you see life in a different way. Like for me Going out there. They told me it was a third world country Like I went to Bali first and I went to Jakarta next and Jakarta is probably one of the most beautiful cities that I've ever seen in my life If not the most in terms of like the technology in terms of like how and up to day There's the city is just like amazing. I thought I was in the future. Like it looked like I was 20 years of beyond the time that we were in like they got that like Projectors in the sky Everybody's watching like anime the whole city I was like man, this is amazing. This was incredibly dope and I really appreciated my time there Do you have any other places that are on your list that you really want to go visit? Tokyo, Japan is one Terms, it's another city that's really big in technology and I've seen Tokyo drift and I was like, I got to go there So so not so you had a chance to meet Joey a little bit today. Joey's the guy to show you Tokyo I don't know if you know he started a night he dropped out of college to start a nightclub in Tokyo back back back in the day Awesome, so maybe we can shift gears a little bit and actually talk a little bit about hoops So I know I know, you know, I'm again just massive Celtics fans So so that's it's a big season that we got coming on and you know I'm wondering, you know both both Isaiah Thomas who's one of your mentors and Tommy Hineson said that you know they predict that you're gonna be the NBA's most improved player this year and I mean obviously you've been working hard in the offseason Are there particular elements of your game that you've been working on that you feel like we will be able to see this year? Um, I hope so. Yes, but I've gotten so much better from my rookie year to my second year and now from this year to Now I mean from last year to now. I've gotten so much better So I can't wait to be able to get on the floor With everybody and have the full game plan and get things rolling because we got a really special team here in Boston And and I'm super excited and we really want to bring that banner home for for everybody here in Boston So, uh, so there are like several text threads that I have with my friends where we always do It's like totally it's year-round. I like look at my phone. I got like 90 messages from these guys We're always just talking about the Celtics. Um, you know, and again Kyrie has said that he's going to resign now Um, just any reflections about the specific team that you got going you you said is special But can you can you just say a little bit more about about this team the talent level? It's a challenge every day like even today was a challenge like every day It's like a challenge because you got somebody in your position or somebody that plays your position They can also play other positions that's right there right next to you challenging you for minutes Challenging you for you know, shout everything, you know I mean on the defense in that challenge you often saying that challenge you so it's beautiful because you know I love to compete like that really grounds my gear is competing and being at the highest level So then the gorgeous Kyrie, Terri Rozier, Jason Tatum, Gordon Hayward Just being able to be in that room and be able to meet with the the best Is amazing and we challenge each other every day. So in practice, who drives you the craziest? Who drives me the craziest? Yeah, Marcus more Not even close Easy is just like he's filing like today he hit me with an elbow and I'm like he was on offense I was on defense He hit me with an elbow. I was like, man, you know what? I'm gonna just go out. I'm stuck Yeah, can we talk about the fact that Marcus smart got ejected from a preseason game? Wow, wow. Yeah Uh, all right. All right So so before we turn it over to the audience because I know I know everybody's excited to get in as well I got a bunch of just get to know you questions. Okay, and this is some technology here. I've never used this before We're gonna do this together. All right. So this is some rapid fire technology Get to know you questions. Yeah, actually over here over here with beefers All right, so So so first question you kind of answered this about the social part But just general favorite book you have a favorite book a favorite book and I love books But it's hard to the two is like a favorite How about one you're reading right now when I'm reading right now and I'm actually reading a book Called brain types brain types. Yeah by a doctor that gave it to me that Works for the Celtics. It's like categorizing different brain time. I'm not going some weird stuff But it's pretty entertaining like it's dope. It's like certain brain types that exist and understanding people's brain types We'll help you understand them and how they act and how to interact with them And there's a bunch of weird stuff. All right to help you with Marcus throwing balls All right, all right favorite movie favorite movie, I'm gonna go loving basketball All right, all right Favorite album favorite album I'ma go kindrick lemar good kid mad city This is so great song in a moment song at a moment I'ma go Childish Gambino summertime All right, um, is there particular music that you'd like to play to get yourself hyped before a game? uh Anything little baby or in gonna Let me get some snaps for that Favorite food favorite food, uh, that's tough And I love food It's hard to choose a favorite food, but and your mom's sitting right now. I was just gonna say Oh, she just gave you the side eye She's good for that. She's good for that Favorite food. It's too hard to choose. Yeah All right, we can hold that one. Um, any favorite fashion or style icons you've been doing you've been in a lot of fashion work recently Yeah, like, um, a lot of stuff I pull from my fashions like Japanese influence Like I grew up watching anime in terms of like sailor moon in terms of avatar Um, anything like anything anime like I was watching I love dragon ball z um Anything boom dogs like all different types of like I grew up watching so A lot of my style and stuff I pull from my anime and things like that. So Some of my fashion influences are like yogi from y3. I think he's dope. Uh, I mean, I got to meet the designer for Sakai as well and she's a Japanese based influencer and creator and designer, but Um, I love fashion as well too. Beautiful. Um, so Athletes are notoriously superstitious. Do you have any superstitions that you can share with us? I'm not superstitious No, I'm not at all really Are you was yours? Man, well before when I before I play NBA games I have a I have a whole set of things non things that I do because I There are a lot of fan superstitions though, you don't have that's oh my god, of course You have to like get up and you know If you're sitting in a certain spot for too long and the Celtics aren't doing well All right, you know, I got to play my role to help the team stand up I've got a lot of friends. I mean, we we have very sophisticated systems that that are a big part of your game actually Just so you know, you know, you're gonna develop some suits here tonight. Actually just to just to help you It's really pulling for you. Yeah Uh, so other random question. Who do you think is the funniest guy on the team on the Celtics? Funniest guy on the team. We got a lot of guys who think they're funny So you No, I'm not the funniest guy on the team. I'm pretty I like to just I'm I'm just watching, you know, that's my role That was a good joke though. Yeah That's what I'm saying Terry Terry thinks he's funny Marcus thinks he's funny. He's hilarious But it's something like Marcus always he don't say nothing to nobody else But when I walk in here comes JB look at this Like Marcus always got something to say to me Kyrie same way Kyrie won't say nothing to nobody else. But as soon as I walk in it's just like I'm a easy target So actually this year I got some jokes written down Prepared for each one of them so I can just so they know it. I'm not sweet, you know, I mean I got I got some jokes lined up for me Oh, amazing. All right. Well, I guess the final one for me is um, I just you know I found out actually from our mutual friend from boas that that kade Actually hoops and was was the star. Were you the MVP of your high school basketball team? Oh god. No Why are you spreading these lights? No, I actually I read that on the internet and everything on the internet is real So so I heard that kade was was the star of her her team five two So just so you know, so I was the star of my basket of my driveway basketball I was unbelievable there. So what I think is I feel like the three of us and like a three on three tournament I think we can kind of take anybody should just join the big three. We should just hit up ice cream I'll hurt it here. Okay. What does everybody think this would be a pretty good team, right? A few claps I believe it though. I believe it Um, all right. Well, why don't we shift in and take some take some questions from the audience? So I think I think um, how this is going to work. Oh, we're gonna just remind a little um, but kade we can look at this too. So I think um Everybody's been giving some questions and then yeah people really like the veganism question. Yeah, let's go with that one You want you want to are you a vegan? I'm not a vegan Uh, uh, I do enjoy vegan cuisine. Does that count? Yeah, I think so And the question specifically is do you think more athletes should embrace veganism or part-time veganism more? I hate putting the title on stuff. That's my thing It's like the title of it like say I go the whole year Being a vegan and then it's like one day that I choose to to to eat a bowl of ice cream You're no longer a vegan. You know, I mean people Yeah, so it's like you're no longer a vegan because at one time that you have what's named So I don't like putting I just enjoy eating healthy and if anybody likes to eat healthy They should eat what it works for them in their body. Amen. Yeah harm reduction, right? um There was another question that got voted down But I thought it was interesting. Did you fast this summer? Was that um, I actually did yes And did that did that have any impact on your game or your training or what? I actually did it during the playoffs Actually, and uh, was that like I felt like it took me to another level. I think I I had a pretty good playoffs this year But um, I didn't tell anybody or anything because I felt like, you know, of course People would be like, what are you thinking like you're going to the bronze games and you're not eating like You're done But it actually turned out to be pretty good for me in the word All right, so um, this is an interesting one. What is oh, they're they're moving so fast One was about the community. So what are your favorite ways to get involved in the community in boston? um Anything like uh, I'm actually developing a routine now. I have my community guy right here. John borders. Um, john Do you stand up for us for say? Yeah, john So i'm actually developing a routine here in boston and just have it a little bit more effective Like i'm a little bit more tailored to myself in terms of going into the community and really like affecting things I have some events planning and And using some of my money in my own pocket to kind of help out any situation. I'm here So i'm a part of the community as well. So Anytime you can you can reach out and uplift the youth or The kids or any type of way those are they're going to be the future You know the the kids that are in the crowd that are sitting here watching There isn't going to be the ones that are going to carry the torch. So anytime I can spill into somebody that's young I'm just like making an investment. Hopefully that they'll just do their part to continue on making Society boston everywhere a better place than what it was. It's amazing man I think just you know for me too, and I'm sure for kate and the lab I mean I think we're all really excited about that You know, you know, hopefully you're here for the rest of your career, right? And you can really put down some roots here and do a lot of good work with that's in the community So so really really excited Is there a way for the questions to not move so fast? I feel like we we just gonna ask Well, we just last one about the toronto raptors, which are you scared of them? Right I won't even answer There are a lot of questions coming in it's like they're changing like every three seconds. Like it's pretty cool Here's one Do you feel there needs to be a dichotomy between being a famous athlete entertainment figure and being a politically conscientious or active individual? No, I don't think it needs to be a dichotomy. I think it's all like like what we just talked about was the word anti Anti-disciplinary. Yeah, it's like just the intersectionality between the two like not only do I represent the Celtics I represent UC Berkeley. I represent my family my parents. I represent myself So like when I go out there, it's not like I'm just a Boston Celtic, you know, I'm a member of UC Berkeley I just spoke at Harvard. I represent them. So it's like you got to think in an account like there's a There's a there's a lot more. There's a bridge Between a lot of this stuff that we're missing. I think there's a bridge between basketball and influence And technology is about this is a bridge between technology and education Of course that everybody knows there's a lot of bridges that are there and I think Bringing them all full circle instead of looking at them as separate Entities is the key Can I just jump you you didn't say I represent Atlanta What is it like to be a professional athlete like representing a city that you're actually not from like What is that like? It's interesting, you know That's a part like it's nothing you can I can't control, you know that like Boston Celtics dropped me I'm happy that they dropped me the history or title town, etc And I represent Boston as well now since that point But just being from Atlanta and being from that area and seeing the things that I've seen going to school there And some of that pain that I've learned Have the title for now that I mentioned earlier is a part of my my motivation. So Doing stuff a lot for my city and going back to my city and giving back and Talking to kids that are from the same situation I'm from are going through the same system that I went through is inspiration, you know And everybody has that that feeling when they go home Like there's nothing like home, you know what I mean? So a lot of my source of a lot of my source of inspiration I'm drawing and I'm pulling from the people that I grew up with The teachers that I ran into the community because I know that it's a lot of little kids It might be watching this right now that from my same neighborhood from my same situation And thinking like look like I can do that and they can't It's beautiful, man Um, the most popular of voting question. I I'm not sure. I will have to ask it. I will ask it So it's in giant capital letters. What do you think about the jimmy butler situation is the question So jimmy is my girl I think a lot of people know that I've I've been working out with jimmy for like the last three years and jimmy is a stone cold killer, man Like he is militant. He has a routine Like that's I'm learning that now Having a routine because there's a lot of power and routine, but he has everything Like he doesn't leave his life to chance at all Like I've never seen it like in terms of when he eats when he sleeps when he has company When he has bible study when he has practice recovery all of this is on like a sheet And he has somebody be like no, we can't do that. We got this for 30 minutes Then we got this for 30 minutes his whole life is on a sheet of paper Wow And it's like so he really puts the dedication in like so it takes it to another level So in terms of like hard like if anybody I'm riding with I'm riding with jimmy So do you feel like you're you're starting you're you're saying you're inspired by that Are you bringing some of those elements into your game too? Absolutely, you know in terms of work ethic in terms of that that that passion for the game that sacrifice Like to be in that point you got to sacrifice a lot like jimmy lives a very simple life Like this summer he's like in the middle of like calabasis like Away from every everything and everybody took me almost like an hour To get there or two hours almost from the airport and it's just like he's in the middle of nowhere And he doesn't go out. He doesn't go to the city Like he sacrificed so many doesn't drink or do anything He sacrificed so much for his body his career and his mind to be able to do to be in a position That he's in now because his position wasn't the easiest of positions where he's came from You know at one point he was homeless Now he's making a hundred million dollars in nba. Just think about that Yeah Crazy, um, I like the question about arabic. Yeah, let's see. You're studying arabic. Why did you pick arabic of all languages? I I have a few languages that I want to learn like when I went to indonesia I did a little study on bahasa and I learned a little bit about that But I want to be able to be not necessarily fluent But being able to to converse And most it just makes you a little bit more worldly makes me when you go to different places I think it goes a long way when people when you try to connect with people in their language You know, I mean and things like that. So that's what I'm I'm trying I'm going for I've been to dubai a few times and I have a lot of friends who who speak arabic. So that's kind of where it started Cool, it's beautiful language. Also. It is very very I like this one at the bottom here. What advice do you have for mit students? What advice we got a lot of mit students in the building here. So, um What advice do I have for mit students? I would just say Just um, keep an open mind and connect and connect with as many people as you can It's a lot of people that can benefit from the information that you guys are learning here at mit, you know, sometimes I know like a lot of the Academias are private and they keep their information in house but spread the word man Like people like me would like are thrilled to be here. Like I'm happy to hear about the civic media lab I'm happy to hear about biomechanics and things like that. This this is dope to me like it's super dope just to be here because um Just humble beginnings at first, but then these are the type of things are going to be Spark and change these are the type of things that's going to be effect in our future So anytime you can you can spread that information to the masses I think that's what's going to be that specific media is really, right? That's a huge lesson And I think that there are mit people. I think that's incredibly wise It's really easy in a place like mit to just get focused on the little gadget you're making And I think especially now more than ever Being able to communicate that understand the social context of the technology We're working on is all hyper important so and yeah, you know My hope is too over the years that that we can collaborate and really Bring that layer of social context onto the technology that happens at a place I think that's the purpose of the media lab, right? It's just to create a space where you can make that happen just Bring that that influence and put it in a space where you can connect with different people And broaden a lot of the stuff that you guys are doing here because just being able to see it Just even if I was only here for a quick amount of time like I can tell like this stuff is going to be This is this this is some high-level information right here Beautiful man. I got a quick two quick questions for you What is your favorite thing to do in the weight room and what is your least favorite thing to do in the weight room? I'll start with my least my favorite my least favorite is to be in the weight room with erin baines He's loud He's lifting 400 pounds Like he's yelling like a viking I'm like this is this is overwhelming Like I don't I don't want to be there when erin baines is there But that's his and what's your favorite thing my favorite thing just probably working on my body I think you're you're just how people Your body just has to be able to keep up with your mind But like favorite lift like you a squat favorite lift. Um, what's your favorite lift? I don't know Maybe like the ab exit to court, right? Kid, are you do you have like a a fitness thing going on right now? Yeah, like Something No comment This is not about me david It's about feeling There was a question that was there that disappeared that um, I thought was interesting Why do you think that cavernic style protests have not spread to the mba? I mean, there was like a couple years ago during the eric garner protests Lebron had his team come out and those I can't breathe t-shirts, right? Um, but like, you know, what what was going on last season? Why do you that's a good I mean that's a hard question to answer and I don't think that Like um, my opinion will justify that answer. Why don't I think that spreads at mba? In ways his house is drawing awareness and I think that A lot of people have their foot in the door, but why haven't people particularly taken the knee? I think um, there's other ways to to draw attention to something and And there's ways and there's other then there's other other ways that you can do And I think the way that cavernic did it was like A way that people are going to take notice in this right away I think it's been misconstrued about his intent behind it because people took it as disrespect to the flag So I think that People now they look when they do it now if mba player were to do it I think people wouldn't want to associate with the negative intent side of it, you know what I mean like um, but His intentions were were pure in his in his mechanism and just was misconstrued in the media kind of ran with it And now he's painted as the picture of a bad guy But it was to weigh social awareness with police brutality inequality in our neighborhoods, etc and um And it worked it really did and I think that It's a continuing process. I don't think it's a ever-ending process, but I think everybody can be a part of that doesn't have to be an athlete doesn't have to be a politician It could be social media like a lot of people everybody has a voice now And how how positively are we using that voice? You know people talk a lot of mess On social media and they enjoy do it trolls and and saying all type of things like your voice What you put into this world you're into the universe is is powerful. So I think we all play a hand in it media Fans politicians athletes We all can make a a conscious effort to to watch what we say or Try to put positive No, not even to watch what you say just try to put positive energy back into the world We see a lot of people say a lot of negative Harmful things about people they never met or don't even know like what is the benefit of that? Like what is the purpose of that? Does that make you feel better for today? Yeah, that's got to be really hard I mean I see some comments that people who are like sitting on their couch at home are making about Professional athletes on on the internet like writing back to athletes and saying like oh you suck or whatever and it's like You're literally on your couch right now. Like you clearly I'm fine. I'm fine with that. I don't have a problem with that. So the haters don't it doesn't like people tell me I suck all the time like that's cool. That's an opinion. That's a different thing But when you start it's like it's it's a line you can cross Like everybody has an opinion you can have an opinion about anything But when you cross that line and start going into other things and and stuff like that Like people tell you to be quiet or set up. You're just a stupid basketball player I feel like that's a little excessive, you know, so it's okay if people critique your game But not if they critique you as a person. That's life. I mean, I can't stop anybody from doing anything I'm just a little old me. You know, I mean, but It would be nice to see everybody kind of make a social effort to kind of you know Be better humans, right? I think that's the goal. Yeah. Yeah, that's beautiful, man I guess one final question for me. I was just thinking about too, you know, obviously in the NBA You know, there's really quite a lineage of outspoken players, you know, you had, you know, kreg hodges I was reading about this recently. Actually, you know, my my my friend mon I've hit me to this article Which I thought was really amazing talking about, you know, after the 95 96 season Or sorry in 91 actually kreg hodges. He approached Michael Jordan and magic johnson During the NBA finals and actually said like, hey, we should just have we should boycott the finals right now to make a statement about Race, right? Which I thought which kind of blew my mind that that was a thing and that, you know, Michael said that Michael Jordan apparently said he's too crazy and my magic johnson said it was too extreme and then you had, you know Ahmed Abdul Raouf formerly chris jackson who also, you know, had some had some really And I apologize if I mispronounce the name Had some significant kind of role at that time too And I'm wondering, you know, just within the NBA, you know Have do you have any reflections about some of those players and kind of the the activism that they had? um Absolutely, definitely I don't I don't want to say I'm following any particular mode because I'm not I was just being myself It initially just started from my my passion from my education And my passion for you know inequality and things like that and and sports has a lot of big influence in that But uh, I'm just seeing some of those guys and hearing some of the stories is dope, but uh I kind of do things my own way in a sense, you know I don't necessarily have a particular mode that I'm following or I'm trying to be the next This or the next that like I see some that is important to me And if it comes in if it strikes me and I feel like I need to talk about it Like I'm just not afraid to talk about it. I don't think I'm trying to be the next Anything or I don't want people to hold you when you start speaking on certain things They say you're the this or they put you in a box and that's fine. That's cool But at the same time it's just like I'm just not afraid of speaking about the stuff. I'm passionate about I'm not trying to be anything, you know, I'm just being myself It's beautiful, man. Well, I think that's a perfect note for for us to end on So, uh, everybody can we just give one big round of applause here?