Who is Terrence Clarke? All About Late Wildcats Alum Who Jaylen Brown Honored at Celtics’ Championship Parade

The Boston Celtics are definitely at the top of the NBA world. But Jaylen Brown, the reigning Finals MVP, could be even on the moon. The 27-year-old turned out to be the best player of the Finals series and rightly so, had all the attention on him. Moreover, the star used valuable attention to pay tribute to his “little brother” Terrence Clarke. Importantly, this isn’t the first time when JB made use of the massive platform to honor the Kentucky Wildcats player.

Days after decimating the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden, the Celts team set out on an electrifying parade. Every player had their way to celebrate the win. Notably, Jayson Tatum donned ‘Don’t stop disbelieving’ T-shirt and Brown rocked the stage with his famous tweet ‘State your source’ slapped on his T-shirt.

Similarly, everyone used the opportunity to showcase their message. But, JB went a step further and decided to honor Terrence Clarke by displaying the public with a #5 Celts jersey with Clarke’s name on it. He also shared it on his IG stories to further take it across his 3.9 million followers.

While the ardent Jaylen Brown fans’ know the story behind the star’s constant effort to honor Clarke, others might want to know the actual reason. And it dates back to April 21, 2021. It was the day when Terence Clarke unfortunately lost his life in a car crash, which was 2 months before the 2021 NBA Draft. He was 19.

Many from the NBA world paid their respect to the late baller, but Brown had a much stronger connection than just a fellow hooper. The Dorchester, Boston native, was under the 3x NBA All-Star’s wing during his high school and college and took his mentorship. And just months before JB could see his mentee realize his NBA dream, Clarke sadly passed away.

Jaylen Brown never misses an opportunity to honor his “little brother”

Terrence Clark emerged as a star NBA prospect ever since his high school. He went to Brewster, Wolfboro, N.H., and trained under Brown’s mentorship since then. Following that, he picked the University of Kentucky for his college basketball. The rising star played only guard played only 8 games, averaging 9.6 points in his freshman year. And on March 19, 2021, he declared for the NBA draft.

Days after he declared the draft, he met with an accident alongside his teammate, Brandon Boston Jr., when they were returning from a workout in LA, California.

This loss left a huge impact on Jaylen Brown as he considered Clark as his brother. Speaking of the loss in an interview in 2021, Brown said, “Terrence and me, we had a unique relationship. Terrence was the little brother I never had. Always at my house, going through my closet, playing video games. I’m like, ‘Don’t you got school? What are you doing?’ He was just always hanging out.”

Brown continued to keep Terrence in his thoughts and honored him globally at the 2024 NBA Dunk contest. While it was hard to find an established star in the dunk contest, JB surprised everyone with his appearance. On top of it, for his Final Round first dunk, he left everyone in an emotional rollercoaster. He donned Clarke’s Brewster #5 jersey and made the league display the late star’s image on the LED court.

Following the dunk, Brown gestured 5 and heart with his hands and later tapped his chest. Later speaking to the press, he said, “Terrence was like my little bro. Definitely a Boston connection.” 

Jaylen Brown pleaded to the NBA to honor Clarke

Clarke was projected to get drafted in the 14th or 15th pick in the 2021 Draft and unfortunately, it all came crashing down after his passing. However, ahead of the draft day, the Celts star put out a tweet, requesting the league to honor Clarke on the global stage. The tweet read, “@NBA please let my lil bros name get called this year we need that !! RIP,” by sharing his pictures. 

And, the NBA listened to the request and conducted the ceremonial draft for the late baller. The NBA Commissioner Adam Silver took a moment out of the event and dedicated it to the family. Representing Clark, his mother, Osmine, sister, Tatyana, and his little brother, Gavin joined the event.

The teary-eyed family climbed the podium and received the honorary NBA hats. Clark’s mother couldn’t control her tears throughout the event. Notably, Brown had also delivered a thoughtful message to Osmine at Clarke’s local gym which dedicated the court to the late star. He said, “We continue to speak lively on his name. Terrence is still alive and he’s going to continue to live forever… As long as me, Jayson [Tatum], [Marcus] Smart, Aaron [Nesmith] (are) here, Terrence is one of us… A piece of him is with us.” 

Jaylen Brown is definitely a man of his word. He didn’t forget Terrence Clark at his highest point, honoring him at the parade.

Before you go, do not forget to check out Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato open up about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud. Keep checking this space for more such updates.