NBA ALL-STAR SLAM DUNK

February 17, 2024

Jaylen Brown

Press Conference

Q. Did you accomplish what you wanted to? Other than not winning, but it seems like you had a message with every dunk that you had.

JAYLEN BROWN: For sure. I thought I had fun. I think that was what the ultimate thing was to go out and have fun. I accomplished that. It was an honor.

At least I can say I did it at one point in my career, and I can live with that.

Q. I think you're the first All-Star to participate in the Dunk Contest in six years. Why do you think it is that star players and All-Stars kind of avoid it? Why did you specifically want to enter it tonight?

JAYLEN BROWN: It takes some energy to go out there and do tricks and perform. On any given night, you've still got to go and perform for your team.

I think ultimately this media era, some players are afraid to make it into a meme or anything like that. Like I wanted to come out and have fun with it, and that's what I did.

Q. Kenny was saying on the broadcast you surprised him with your creativity. He looked at you as more of an in-game dunker. What do you think about that? You had a little bit more creativity than people thought?

JAYLEN BROWN: Yeah, that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be creative and bring some more entertainment to show at the end of the day. I thought it was cool. I thought the setting was great. I thought the court was great, the LED lights.

I just wanted to be as creative as possible.

Q. Did you ever do any in high school?

JAYLEN BROWN: No, actually, that's my first Dunk Contest ever, official. I've never done one ever before. That was a first for me.

Q. Can you speak a little bit about the tribute you did to Terrence Clark out there?

JAYLEN BROWN: Yeah, Terrence was like my little bro. Definitely a Boston connection. I wanted to have a purpose in everything that I was doing. I wanted everything to have a message behind it, and I think that's what I did tonight.

Q. Were you able to see Dominique's reaction when you had his double come out?

JAYLEN BROWN: Yeah, I thought that was good. I wish that -- I felt like the court was a little slippery. I wish I could have really done what I planned to do in my head or what I practiced to do. I still think it came out. The message got sent.

I had fun while I was doing it, so I can live with those results.

Q. I do believe you're the best in-game dunker in the game. Next year you should participate, and if you get to posterize someone, an All-Star, who would you pick to posterize?

JAYLEN BROWN: Whoever is the tallest. Wemby would be great.

Q. Will you accept the challenge next year?

JAYLEN BROWN: We'll see. I'll take it day by day. Today was fun. Regardless of the result, I feel like I was close, but it was fun nonetheless to get out there and have some fun, have some of my friends come out there. I thought we had a good time.