The trade became official on a Monday. After 10 seasons and a 2024 Finals MVP, the Boston Celtics had sent Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. On Tuesday, July 7, 2026, JB was in Cambridge, at the MIT Media Lab, for opening day of Bridge Boston, the summer program he started for young people across Greater Boston.
Governor Maura Healey showed up and declared July 7 7uice Foundation Day in Massachusetts, named for his foundation. A young fan named Giovanni, who had gone viral crying over the trade, got to meet him. Brown told reporters there was nothing to be sad about, and that there was still plenty he could do in Boston. He was also honest about where his head was.
"I'm still trying to make sense of it, I'm still processing."
Jaylen Brown, at the MIT Media Lab, July 7, 2026, via NBC Boston
So why was he at MIT the day after the trade? To understand that, you have to start with a chessboard.
The chess captain
Brown was born on October 24, 1996, and grew up in Marietta, Georgia. Long before the NBA, he was the captain of his middle school chess team. He liked to attack. On the show Hot Ones in 2024 he called himself a big gambit guy, the kind of player who gives up material early to take the initiative.
"I was a big gambit guy, I think one of the best things about my life is that I learned the game of chess."
Jaylen Brown, on Hot Ones, via NBC Boston, October 2024
Basketball won out. At Wheeler High School he went to the line with under a second left in the 2015 Class 6A state final against Pebblebrook and made both free throws. Wheeler won the title, 59-58. He spent one season at Cal, where he was Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and in his spare time he played at the UC Berkeley Chess Club. Before the 2016 draft, he visited the Marshall Chess Club in New York.
He has compared the two games for years: making the right reads, making the right decisions. He has said he tries to start a game based on how he wants it to finish. In chess terms, he plays the opening with the endgame in mind.
The lab
In 2019 the MIT Media Lab named Brown a Director's Fellow. He told the lab he wanted to use the fellowship to work on education. With the lab's Community Biotechnology Initiative, led by David Kong, he and his family built a program for students in grades 8 through 12 from underrepresented communities. They called it the Bridge Program. The first year, 2021, ran mostly online.
It grew into a multi-day camp run by his 7uice Foundation, whose president is his mother, Mechalle Brown. In 2023, about 100 Boston Public Schools students signed up. The workshops covered artificial intelligence, robotics, aeronautics, clean technology and sustainable food systems, with yoga, meditation and emotional literacy alongside them.
Now the part most people missed. On the July day in 2023 when his five-year supermax extension came together, worth up to $304 million and at the time the richest contract in NBA history, Brown was in a robotics session at MIT with high school students. He had put his phone away. He said he was not just visiting.
"I was a part of the curriculum."
Jaylen Brown, on the MIT robotics session the day his supermax deal came together, July 2023
The scholars
In the program, the students are called scholars. In July 2025 more than 100 of them, mostly from Dorchester and Roxbury, spent four days at the Media Lab. Local Boys and Girls Clubs recommended them for character, not grades. One day opened with workshops on robotics and artificial intelligence. Another took them to Google for an AI product design challenge. They met NASA astronauts and toured the Museum of Science. Chess tournaments were on the schedule too.
Brown had knee surgery a month earlier and came anyway. One of the support staff that summer was Jesse Lee Givens IV, who had first enrolled at 14, in the program's first year. He came back to pass down what he had learned.
On January 31, 2026, in the middle of the season, the foundation held an education fair at the Yawkey Boys and Girls Club in Boston for more than 350 students, with Google, NASA and NBA 2K in the room. Chess.com ran a tournament there. Brown, who has his own bot on Chess.com that anyone can challenge, sat in the front row for the final and congratulated the finalists.
Best season, last season
On the court, 2025-26 was the best season of his career. He averaged a career-high 28.7 points in 71 games and led the NBA in field goals made, with 736. No Celtic had ever done that before. He was named to the All-NBA Second Team.
Then came the first round against Philadelphia. Boston led the series three games to one and lost it in seven. Game 7, on May 2, ended 109-100, 76ers.
A new board
Two months later the 76ers acquired him for Paul George and two first-round picks. It became official on July 6. At the Media Lab the next day, he told reporters he was still processing it.
He did not leave Boston quietly. On August 30, he threw a free farewell party on Boston Common for thousands of fans, gave backpacks to schoolchildren and was handed a street sign from Mayor Michelle Wu: Jaylen Brown Way. He told the crowd he had promised to go to war for the city.
On October 20, 2026, he opened his 11th season at Madison Square Garden against the champion New York Knicks, in a 76ers jersey, alongside another new arrival, LeBron James. He had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Philadelphia won 106-100.
His foundation's site lists a Bridge Atlanta now, too. The jersey changed. The board changed. He has said Boston is still home.
GAMECHANGER™Reporting draws on NBC Boston, NBC Sports Boston, The Boston Globe, NBA.com, Boston 25 News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Yardbarker, Axios Boston, 6abc, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cal Athletics, CelticsBlog, Chess.com, The Chess Drum, Black Enterprise, the Charlestown Bridge, People of Color in Tech, Athlon Sports, Lines.com, the MIT Media Lab and the 7uice Foundation.
Sources (26)
NBC Boston: 'I'm still trying to make sense of it,' Jaylen Brown discusses trade at local event · Boston Globe: Jaylen Brown, the trade and his foundation · NBA.com: Sixers to acquire Jaylen Brown from Celtics · NBC Sports Boston: Jaylen Brown traded to 76ers for Paul George · Boston 25 News: Jaylen Brown named All-NBA Second Team · NBC Boston: Jaylen Brown named to All-NBA Second Team, 2026 · Lines.com: 76ers stun Celtics in Game 7 to complete 3-1 comeback · Philadelphia Inquirer: Sixers, Jaylen Brown and LeBron James · Yardbarker: Jaylen Brown fits in during 76ers debut · AP via Pacific Daily News: Sixers open at Knicks · Axios Boston: Jaylen Brown's farewell on Boston Common · 6abc: Jaylen Brown farewell party in Boston · Cal Athletics: Jaylen Brown roster bio · Cal Athletics: Jaylen Brown named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year · Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Class AAAAAA boys final, Wheeler vs. Pebblebrook · CelticsBlog: Jaylen Brown, the Bridge Program and the 7uice Foundation · 7uice Foundation: Home · Black Enterprise: Jaylen Brown's 7uice Foundation and underserved youth · Charlestown Bridge: BPS students to participate in Jaylen Brown's Bridge Program · People of Color in Tech: How Jaylen Brown's STEM camp is bridging gaps · Yahoo Sports: Jaylen Brown in MIT robotics session as supermax came together · MIT Media Lab: Jaylen Brown updates · MIT Media Lab: Building a Bridge for Learning, Jaylen Brown and David Kong · NBC Boston: In epic Hot Ones episode, Jaylen Brown talks love of chess · Chess.com: 7uice Foundation and Chess.com bridge the opportunity gap · The Chess Drum: Chess molds NBA champion Jaylen Brown