NBA star Jaylen Brown said that getting rich came at a cost to his relationships.
On Monday’s episode of the “Boardroom” podcast, the basketball player spoke about how his success changed the way he viewed money and interacted with the people around him.
Brown began gaining recognition for his basketball skills at a young age, and his growing profile helped ease some of the financial pressure on his family.
“It wasn’t necessarily monetary wealth, but you could see wealth was being accumulated,” Brown said. “My mom didn’t have to pay for camps anymore. At around 13 or 14 years old, I didn’t have to pay for basketball sneakers anymore.”
Brown started to get opportunities that many of his peers — who, like him, grew up in single-parent households with limited resources and opportunities — didn’t have.
As his fame grew, he said he began noticing envy from those around him, and those dynamics became more complicated as he gained popularity and wealth.
Over time, he said, he developed a sense of stoicism to cope.
“Friends, family, they can let you down, man. They can disappoint you in ways and hurt you in ways that it changes you,” he said. “The amount of money, the amount of clout, the amount of fame that you’re able to acquire puts pressure on the people around you, especially the ones closest to you.”
Navigating how success changed his interactions with others had been “the hardest part,” because it “puts you on an island, isolates you,” Brown said.
“Conversations become invoices, the lines get blurred, and it gets tough,” he said.
Brown said he had also experienced moments when he didn’t feel like he could turn to the people around him for support because they assumed he had everything “figured out” and could afford “whatever” he needed.
But Brown said he couldn’t always handle everything on his own. “You don’t necessarily feel like you can ask for help,” he said.
Brown was drafted third overall by the Boston Celtics in 2016. In 2023, he signed a five-year, $303.7 million contract extension with the team, per ESPN. He played 10 seasons in Boston before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in July.
The NBA athlete isn’t alone in finding that money can complicate personal connections.
Business Insider has previously profiled several self-made millionaires who said becoming wealthy strained their friendships and left them feeling isolated. They said differences in spending habits, demanding work schedules, and expectations around money created a distance between them and people they were once close to.
Navigating those dynamics can mean acknowledging that wealth, much like beauty, influences how people respond to you, Clay Cockrell, a licensed clinical social worker who works with high-net-worth individuals, told Business Insider.
“People are going to be attracted to you for different reasons,” he said, “and it’s important for you to own that, but then not let that necessarily cloud your judgment.”
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