On Sunday, Jaylen Brown and the Celtics will try to deliver a Mother’s Day present better than any breakfast in bed: a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In 2014, Brown was a top high school prospect wallowing in his bedroom, physically ill over a shock defeat in the state tournament. His mother, Mechalle, decided after three days of the funk that enough was enough. She threw the lights on and made her son get up and go to school.
“It was a turning point,” Mechalle told ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan. “Jaylen needed to understand life was going to throw a lot of things at you, but you can’t let them make or break you.