Yes, I may be a bit bored waiting for the NBA season to begin. But this has been on my mind for a while. Is it possible that the Celtics Jaylen Brown - the man once tagged as possibly "too smart for the NBA" - could ever end up in the White House?
Let's get the basics out of the way first. To become president, an individual must have been born in the United States (check) - Must have lived in the U.S. for 14 years (check) - and must be at least 35 years old (roughly seven years to go). There is nothing in those requirements that states a professional athlete can not lead this country.
However, that has never happened. Barack Obama looked good out on the basketball court but never played professionally. Ronald Reagan portrayed both a professional baseball player and college football player in two different movies. Knicks star, Bill Bradley, ran in the presidential primaries in 2000 against Al Gore, but lost.
So maybe it's time for the first retired pro athlete to become U. S. President. It has been obvious to me that Brown has high aspirations post-retirement. But my concern was always that those aspirations would be a distraction which would adversely affect his game.
We can now scratch that thought. Jaylen is now an NBA Champion, Finals MVP and 3-time All-Star. Beyond that, he had improved his game every season. He has strengthened his weaknesses and transformed into a true team player.
Garnering fame in a game that has turned into a world-wide phenomenon will certainly make him known all over the globe. And his off-court interests point towards a possible future in politics (per Wikipedia):
At age 22, Brown became the National Basketball Players Association's youngest elected vice president. In recent years, he has spoken on the importance of education and technology at Harvard University, MIT, and his alma mater, Berkeley. In 2019, Brown was named as a MIT Media Lab fellow, and he has since collaborated with the university to create the Bridge Program, which mentors Greater Boston youth and high school students of color who are interested in pursuing careers in STEM programs. Through his work with MIT and his 7uice Foundation, Brown has taken a strong interest in tackling education and income inequality, among other social advocacy initiatives.
So, don't rule it out. This intelligent, diverse 27-year-old NBA star has proven that he is not "too smart for the NBA" and just may have the creativity, tenacity and mental discipline to someday lead this country in the right direction.
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