New Sixers wing Jaylen Brown found a unique way to prepare for the upcoming season by stepping into a boxing ring for his first-ever bout Thursday in Nigeria, writes Jack Maloney of CBS Sports. Brown, who is in Africa with his nonprofit organization, the 7uice Foundation (Twitter video link), admitted on social media that he didn’t really prepare for the fight before lacing up the gloves.
Maloney describes the exhibition as more of a “public sparring session” than an actual match, and while both boxers wore headgear, they were throwing legitimate punches. Brown connected with a sharp jab on his opponent at one point and later took a shot to the midsection.
Brown’s father, Quinton Marselles Brown, was a professional boxer who compiled a 33-18-1 record with 25 knockouts. Maloney notes that at this year’s All-Star Weekend, Brown talked about switching to fighting after his basketball career is over.
“I’ve toyed with this, I’ve talked to some people. Maybe post part of my career I’d love to partake in something like UFC or even boxing,” said Brown, who added that he’s had conversations with UFC president Dana White.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
In an interview with Daniel Donabedian of Celtics Wire (Twitter video link), Mitchell Robinson talks about his confidence level after leaving New York in free agency to sign with the Celtics. “Right now, I’m just so confident in myself,” Robinson said. “… I feel like this is going to be a great year for me. As you can see, I’m starting to take recovery a lot more seriously.”
In a subscriber-only piece, Stefan Bondy of The New York Post sets goals for each member of the Knicks to give them a better shot at repeating as champions. They include more free throws for Jalen Brunson, less complaining to the officials for Karl-Anthony Towns, better health for Landry Shamet and a first All-Star appearance for OG Anunoby.
Winning their first title in 53 years has created a massive jump in Knicks’ ticket prices on the secondary market, per Shane Galvin of The New York Post. TicketIQ reports that the cheapest ticket to get into the October 20 opener against Philadelphia has risen to $1,346, an increase of 526% from last year’s home opener. Only Games 3 and 4 of the NBA Finals topped that price.