Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown will make his first NBA All-Star Game appearance on Sunday in Atlanta. And ahead of the game, he offered a look at the custom shoes that he would be wearing.
The red and blue Adidas T-Mac sneakers may have seemed like an odd choice for Brown — who typically opts for the newer Adidas offerings — but there was clear inspiration behind that sneaker selection.
Back when Brown was a 17-year-old prospect at Wheeler High School (Ga.), he had a brief Twitter interaction with the former NBA star. McGrady tweeted to Brown at the time, “Remember Humble and Hungry.”
And, well, that 2014 tweet clearly resonated with Brown.
In 2014, T-Mac tweeted "Remember Humble and Hungry" to Jaylen Brown.
Brown has that same message on his shoes ahead of his first #NBAAllStar Game
@FCHWPO pic.twitter.com/uuKHES7Hso
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 7, 2021
Ahead of the game, Brown shared a screenshot of the 7-year-old tweet to his Instagram Story. And in the following Story, he unveiled the T-Mac sneakers with the “Humble & Hungry” message displayed on the sides.
Jaylen Brown dedicates his kicks for his first All-Star Game appearance to Tracy McGrady
pic.twitter.com/j1c4iR2wYc
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 7, 2021
I’m sure that McGrady didn’t think a tweet to an up-and-coming high school basketball player would stick with him all these years later, but it goes to show how meaningful the words of a role model can be.
It’s especially cool that Brown found a way to keep that message with him for his first All-Star Game appearance.
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