Jaylen Brown is sharing his tech hustle during All-Star Weekend
Jaylen Brown will be in Los Angeles during All-Star Weekend. Despite his best efforts, the Boston Celtics forward won’t be participating in the All-Star Game. He’ll stay busy in other ways.
After competing in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night, Brown will instead spend part of the weekend hosting a technology and networking lunch called, Tech Hustle with the backing of Base Ventures and National Basketball Players Association on Saturday in Los Angeles. The luncheon is expected to include NBA players, venture capitalists and other celebrities, per The Undefeated’s Marc Spears.
At 21 years old, Brown has already established himself as precocious intellectual with highbrow hobbies and interests. He chose to enter the NBA Draft without an agent and reportedly, an executive once called him “too smart for the NBA.” Brown also chose to attend the University of California-Berkeley because of its proximity to Silicon Valley and other tech companies such as Base Ventures whom he interned with for two months. Since then, he’s maintained his interest in the cross section of venture capitalism and tech.
Brown views this as an opportunity to steer more athletes into a world they wouldn’t otherwise consider.
“My thought process is to just educate athletes and people around you about what is really going on, especially basketball players,” Brown said. “A lot of people wait until the end of their careers to really get things going. I thought it would be more beneficial to start early, put your foot in the door and start educating yourself, because technology investments are where the real money is at.”
Uber executive Bozoma Saint John, entrepreneur David Krause of Google Ventures’, Base Ventures founder Erik Moore and Empire Distribution’s Ghazi Shami are among a group that will also speak at the function.
For his part, Brown is chomping at the bit for an opportunity to discuss his entrepreneurial spirit and passion for tech.
“A lot of people are real excited about ‘Tech Hustle,’ ” Brown said. “I already have 150 to 200 RSVPs. It’s just something to educate. I thought it would be dope to put together an event like that so not only I can network, but put myself, other athletes and whoever finds it interesting in an avenue to network. I have a Rolodex for it. Whoever shows up, it will be great for them.
“I can’t wait. I’m super excited not only to be hustling in sports but besides sports as well. The theme is education through technology, but also hustle.”
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DJ Dunson is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at dunsnchecksin@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or Facebook.
