Basketball stars like mingling with other celebrities. It’s just the way things go in their world of status and fame.
But Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown put out on social media three weeks ago that he wanted to meet a different type of celebrity known for science experiments. The celebrity? None other than Bill Nye.
“I can’t remember what made me even tweet that,” Brown told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “I think I was just up thinking about just your educational experience and it just crossed my mind. I was like, ‘Man, I got to meet this guy.'”
Brown got his wish Friday night following Boston’s 108-96 NBA Cup win over the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena.
Nye, who is a native of Washington, D.C., sat courtside as Brown poured in a game-high 31 points on 13-for-27 shooting for the Celtics to go along with 11 rebounds and five assists.
Brown met up with Nye after the game and the two took a couple of pictures together. It was a memorable moment for Brown, who seemed more excited about meeting Nye than his team’s visit to the White House on Thursday.
“His contributions to STEM and STEAM have been amazing and he made learning fun,” Brown said. “Growing up, I used to be excited when the teacher used to say, ‘We’re watching Bill Nye today.’ So, looking back on it, to be able to shake his hand for helping me and my educational journey, it was pretty cool.”
Like Nye, Brown has tried to give back through science. With his 7uice Foundation, Brown established the Bridge Program, which is a four-day camp at world-renowned MIT and teaches science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics among other topics to minority Boston high school students.
Brown said he didn’t know Nye was in the building as they were trying to schedule a time to meet. It just so happened to come Friday night and Brown was thrilled to get the chance to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with an idol of his.
“I think we were trying to see what was going to work,” Brown said. “Maybe we were going to do something in LA or not. I think he just happened to be here, so it kind of fell in place. But what an honor. What an honor. Definitely was excited to meet him and it was pretty cool to just shake his hand.”
