“Don’t Think It’s Difficult at All”: Jaylen Brown Discusses Observing Ramadan as a Professional Athlete

“Don’t Think It’s Difficult at All”: Jaylen Brown Discusses Observing Ramadan as a Professional Athlete

Jaylen Brown is one of the many professional athletes who observe Ramadan while playing in the NBA. This means athletes observing Ramadan will practice fasting from sunrise to sunset and not consume food or water during that period. Ramadan is an auspicious month for many who observe this holy practice. Brown recently chimed in on his experience of the same during a postgame interview with NBC Sports Boston.

Brown spoke in solidarity with many other athletes who participate in Ramadan, saying this time of the year helps players understand their strengths, focus, and receive clarity about themselves. He considers the holy month a special time of the year in which he participates, falling in line with millions who observe this ritual.

When a reporter asked about the difficulties in observing this practice, Brown answered,

“I don’t think it’s difficult at all. I think people have a lot more difficulties in different parts of the world where they don’t have the same blessings or the same opportunities or the same privileges I have.” 

After Celtics beat reporter Bobby Manning posted Brown’s response on X (formerly Twitter), the fans were quite amazed at the Celtics star’s determination to live up to his faith. One fan wished Jaylen Brown would become a community engagement leader after his retirement,

“I love this man so much. I truly hope he becomes some sort of community leader or professor or something when he retires (after winning multiple championships of course).”

Another fan, who seems extremely enamored by Brown’s response, wrote, “He is a good man!” 

This fan thinks that Brown’s response was a shot at Kyrie Irving, who had described Ramadan as nothing short of a miracle. They wrote, “Shot at Kyrie ? Kyrie said it’s nothing short of a miracle lol.”

Another fan quoted the tweet to express their respect for Brown, who is performing without excuses while fasting. They wrote, “Man’s hooping at the highest level while fasting. Have so much respect for JB as a person! No one else should have excuses (unless you are unable to due to health issues). 

Jaylen Brown and Kyrie Irving have observed Ramadan over the past few seasons and have even recorded brilliant playoff performances. Perhaps Brown can elevate his game even further after this year’s Ramadan, as the Celtics aim to run deep in the playoffs, as they have been doing for the last two seasons.

NBA players have always been on their umpteen potential while observing Ramadan

Like Jaylen Brown, the NBA had a history of great players playing at the highest level while participating in the holy month of Ramadan. One such player was the Houston Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon.

Hakeem Olajuwon’s stats while fasting during Ramadan
byu/h97i innba

Despite fasting from sunrise to sunset, the Dream was putting up numbers, averaging between 37 to 40 points per game during Ramadan. Olajuwon even won a Player of the Month award in 1995 while observing the holy ritual at that time.

In the recent history of the NBA, Kyrie Irving has been most vocal about observing Ramadan while playing in the league. When the Dallas Mavericks star was recently asked about the same, Irving told ESPN that he regarded this as his ‘journey with god’ and the path that he is on. Fans have famously dubbed Irving as ‘Ramadan Kyrie,’ mainly due to his scoring outbursts despite fasting during games.

Post Edited By: Hitesh Nigam
Jaylen Brown

About the author

Avatar photo

Siddid Dey Purkayastha

Siddid Dey Purkayastha is an NBA Journalist at SportsRush, covering the sports for two years. He has always been a lover of sports and considers basketball as his favorite. While he has more than 600 articles under his belt, Siddid specializes in CoreSport pieces with on-point game analysis. He is an ardent fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, since Kobe Bryant's 80-point game made him a fan of the franchise. Apart from basketball, Siddid occasionally watches soccer and takes a fancy in following up with the Premier League in his free time.

Don’t miss these