Jaylen Brown is no stranger to making some noise off the court. From his public feud with Stephen A. Smith after the Celtics‘ playoff exit last season, to other fiery comments about his perception in the NBA world, Brown has often riled up fans in some fashion.

Brown’s decisions away from basketball are no longer of the concern of the Celtics — but on Thursday, before he’s even played a single game for his new 76ers team, the star wing went viral for a particularly intriguing reason.

Just a few months after he was traded from Boston to Philadelphia, Brown could be seen boxing competitively in Nigeria, much to the surprise of basketball fans. He wrote in Instagram comments that he even did “0 prep for this,” taking up the challenge of boxing someone in another country.

Here’s a look at Brown, wearing plenty of headgear, stepping into the ring:

Why was Jaylen Brown boxing in Nigeria?

While Brown’s decision to participate in a competitive fight during the offseason appears questionable on the surface, it was an event put together in partnership with one of his charity initiatives — so the boxing itself appeared to be nothing more than light sparring.

Brown’s father, Quenton Marselles Brown, is also a former WBU heavyweight champion, perhaps offering the reasoning behind why the NBA star was interested in the sport.

Brown has also trained in Muay Thai and expressed his interested in a combat sport career after the NBA.

“To be honest, I’ve toyed with this and I’ve talked to some people,” he said in February. “Maybe post part of my career, I’d love to partake in something like UFC or even boxing. I’ve talked to Dana White about some stuff, but we’ll see as things go on. We’ll see.”

Jaylen Brown talks about his love for boxing and the impact that training with his grandfather had on him growing up

(via @netflixsports) pic.twitter.com/pIqK0X8YYR https://t.co/PoDziot2LN

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) September 10, 202676ers fans react to Jaylen Brown boxing 

Of course, with 76ers fans anticipating Brown’s team debut in a little over a month, some were confused as to why he would risk his health in an offseason event.

“He has temped fate way too many times this offseason,” one wrote on X. “Let’s just be ready to throw the ball up.”

I appreciate the way Jaylen Brown has a unique desire to try all these side quests

But Jaylen you are a Sixer now. He has temped fate way too many times this offseason. Let’s just be ready to throw the ball up https://t.co/xdkPrczZ6u

— Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1) September 10, 2026

“There’s no way this is allowed in his NBA contract,” another said.Â