ATLANTA — Jaylen Brown got a hero’s welcome when he visited his alma mater, Wheeler High School, the day before the Celtics faced the Hawks. Brown was back home, and as part of the festivities, he got his jersey retired and gave a speech to the current students.
But, turns out, Brown doesn’t actually like playing in his hometown of Atlanta. That’s even after scoring 41 points in [the Celtics’ blowout victory over the Hawks](https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2026/01/4-takeaways-as-celtics-demolish-hawks-sam-hauser-comes-close-to-history.html) at State Farm Arena. Brown got some MVP chants at the free throw line, though that was because of the many Celtics fans in attendance.
“I do not get excited, no,” Brown said. “In the past, I haven’t really liked playing at home. It’s a lot of distraction, being home, so many people. But as you get older and stuff like that, I’m starting to find my middle ground. So today was good.”
The Celtics overwhelmed the Hawks 132-106 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. The C’s led by as many as 43 points on the night before emptying the bench in a comfortable victory. They powered through courtesy of a [season-high 52 points in the second quarter](https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2026/01/the-celtics-just-matched-nba-history-with-a-ridiculous-second-quarter-performance-vs-hawks.html). The Hawks had little answers defensively on the night.
Brown was everywhere himself, putting up 29 points by the halftime break. He sat the entire fourth quarter, which was the only thing keeping him from another 50-point game. But it was unnecessary for the C’s star to return to the game with Boston up big.
“Just trying to breathe,” Brown said. “Sometimes you get tired physically, and that’s what causes you to miss. It don’t really be the defense sometimes. You just have a hard time catching your breath. I try to focus on my breathing and just come out and be aggressive.”
Brown recounted some memories from back in high school, where he spent 2011-15 at Wheeler High. He won a state championship in 2015 then spent his lone season in college at California. There’s been a lot of success for Brown since getting drafted third overall by the Celtics in 2016. He’s made four All-Star teams, earned the 2024 NBA Finals MVP and he’s now enjoying a career-best season in Boston.
One memory that did pop up was when he was a student, he scored well on the PSAT, a standardized practice test for the SAT. He was invited to some math and science camps. But the pamphlet given to him with those camp dates overlapped with LeBron camp. So, "I remember stuffing them at the bottom of my book bag," he joked. But aside from some of the lighter times, Brown spoke about what the jersey retirement meant to him.
“It was great,” Brown said. “I just wanted to get some words of wisdom. Some inspiration. Despite the circumstances, they can use their platform or they can continue to beat the odds. A lot of, what you call them, public schools — I feel like the system is betting on half of those kids not to succeed. Just being able to have the awareness, give them the tools so they that they can navigate life a little better."