Jaylen Brown opens up about the ‘dark places’ he’s been due to anxiety and depression

Few players in the NBA have enjoyed more collective and individual success in recent years than Boston Celtics star forward Jaylen Brown. Brown has been named an All-Star in four of his last five seasons in the NBA and has a selection to the All-NBA Second Team sprinkled in during that span.

Not only that, but he helped the Celtics win their 18th title in franchise history not long ago. Boston captured the 2024 title after defeating the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the championship series, and Brown earned Finals MVP honors after he averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.

Brown’s life seemingly has gone swimmingly lately, but he had to go through plenty of ups and downs throughout his life to be the highly accomplished player he is today. He recently admitted that he struggled with both anxiety and depression in the past.

“I’ve dealt with anxiety, even depression,” Brown said. “I’ve been to some very dark places. But I feel like those dark places have allowed my light to shine.”

Plenty of NBA players have spoken out on the subject of mental health in recent years, and that has helped to destigmatize the topic among professional athletes. For example, former Washington Wizards star guard John Wall went on record as saying that he contemplated committed suicide back in the year 2022, when he was dealing with a torn Achilles and deaths in the family. Wall said he put a gun to his head twice.

It was brave of Brown to be so open about the mental battles he’s endured, and hopefully he will encourage more professional athletes to openly discuss their mental health.

Brown is a bona fide star at the highest level, but folks may have yet to see Brown at the peak of his powers. With forward Jayson Tatum set to miss at least a good chunk of the 2025-26 campaign with an Achilles injury, the 28-year-old could be in line for more touches on offense than ever before and have a career year in the coming season.

It should be fascinating to witness how Brown fares in the coming season in the games sans Tatum in the lineup. Maybe Brown will be a dark horse MVP candidate if he can keep Boston competitive in an Eastern Conference that looks like it has taken a step back compared to a season ago.