National Basketball Association

Celtics rookie Jaylen Brown explains why he wears short shorts

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:49 p.m. ET

Pete Blackburn

Boston Celtics rookie Jaylen Brown has made a strong impression in the first official week of his NBA career. But aside from his skills on the court, Brown is getting noticed for other things -- such as the short shorts he wears.

Brown, who taken with the No. 3 overall pick in this summer's NBA Draft, dons shorts that end well above his knees. While it seems that a small number of players are doing their part to bring that trend back in style, most NBA players still wear their shorts at or close to the knee.

For Brown, though, it's not about a fashion statement. It's about comfort.

"It's not for attention," Brown said, via MassLive. "I don't do it for other people. I like playing in them. I'm not trying to bring the short shorts back. I'm just trying to be as comfortable as I can on the floor, and I'm doing me."

The 6-7 forward said that he's always preferred size medium shorts and wore them in high school, but the University of California denied his request to wear them in his lone year in the program.

"In college they played me," Brown said. "I asked for them, but they didn't give them to me. They said they couldn't order them or whatever. I didn't understand so I was pretty upset at college."

The 20-year-old says that longer shorts can sometimes hinder his ability to dribble between his legs. He also says that the short shorts allow him to carry around less weight on the court, especially when the uniform begins to soak up sweat.

Upon arriving to the Celtics, the team initially issued him longer shorts, but Brown decided to try his luck once again. Thankfully, the Celtics honored his request to wear the shorter style on the floor, which has created a buzz in Boston.

"I've seen a lot of people are responding to me on social media," he said. "It's like hate or love. Like, 'I'm loving the short shorts,' or, 'He's tripping.' So I don't even pay attention to it. I'm not doing it for attention. I don't care. I'm doing it because Jaylen Brown feels comfortable in short shorts. I don't even consider them short. They're regular shorts to me."

Personally, I'm hoping the movement catches on strongly enough (again) that they're actually considered regular shorts to everyone else, too.