Jaylen Brown has thrived as a member of the Boston Celtics, but that doesn't exclude him from criticism from Green Teamers desperate to see the franchise win its first title since 2008.

In an interview with Sopan Deb of the New York Times, Brown was asked if he has experienced the negative way Boston fans have treated Black athletes. He responded:

"I have, but I pretty much block it all out. It's not the whole Celtic fan base, but it is a part of the fan base that exists within the Celtic nation that is problematic. If you have a bad game, they tie it to your personal character.

"I definitely think there's a group or an amount within the Celtic nation that is extremely toxic and does not want to see athletes use their platform, or they just want you to play basketball and entertain and go home. And that's a problem to me."

In May 2021, Brown discussed systemic racism and his experience in Boston with ESPN's Tim Bontemps:

"I think that not every Celtics fan—I know that every Celtics fan in our arena is not a racist. We have people of all walks of life, ethnicities, colors, that are die-hard Celtics fans. So I think painting every Celtics fan as a racist would be unfair. However, Boston, we've got a lot of work to do, no question. Incarceration rate is ridiculous, the wealth disparity is embarrassing, the inequality in education specifically in Boston public schools needs to be better.

"There's a lack of resources there, lack of opportunity. The tokenism here in Boston needs to be addressed as well. But if we're going to talk about it and that's what the media is going to bring up, I think a sporting arena, things might exist. But in the real world things exist to far different extremities. So I definitely wanted to share my perspective. This is my opinion, of course, and people can challenge that. I definitely think, Boston, we've got a lot of work to do."

Various professional athletes across major sports leagues have spoken about their negative experiences in Boston.

Most recently, Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green recalled Boston fans directing racial slurs toward him and Stephen Curry during the 2022 NBA Finals, which the Celtics lost in six games.

"You usually have situations where people talk crazy, but not the entire arena," Green told ESPN's Kendra Andrews in January. "You'll have a situation where an entire arena will boo you, but not what the Boston fans were doing. So, it was just a different situation than I had ever seen. It took a while to adjust to it ... it was just so unexpected. It caught me off guard."

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was asked during an appearance on HBO's The Shop in July, "Why do you hate Boston?" He responded, "Because they're racist as f--k."

Even Celtics legend Bill Russell, who won 11 championships with the franchise, described Boston as "a flea market of racism" in his 1979 memoir, Second Wind.

"It had all varieties, old and new, and in their most virulent form," he wrote, per the Boston Globe. "The city had corrupt, city hall-crony racists, brick-throwing, send-'em-back-to-Africa racists, and in the university areas phony radical-chic racists. ... Other than that, I liked the city.''

Other former Celtics, including Hall of Famer K.C. Jones, have also described the racism they experienced in Boston.

"We were living in Framingham when I was a player. I went to buy a house about five blocks away. ... The neighbors said they didn't want any Blacks to move into the house," Jones told Boston Magazine, per the Washington Post.

Brown has been one of Boston's most consistent players this season, averaging 26.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 58 games while shooting 49.0 percent from the floor and 33.8 percent from deep.

The 26-year-old, however, has been unable to escape the same unwarranted criticism former Celtics experienced.

The team has had high expectations over the last several seasons, and hopes rose exponentially after Boston reached the NBA Finals last season.

The C's were in first place in the Eastern Conference for much of the 2022-23 season, but they are 5-5 in their last 10 games and now two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks.