Jaylen Brown & Kristaps Porzingis: Cookies & Cream, inside the car rides, stealing JB’s seat | VFTR

What's up everyone? This is Marc D'Amico. I just wanna say thank you for giving us a listen or a watch, and please do not forget to rate, subscribe, or review us. We appreciate you giving us a listen, and here's the next episode of View from the Rafters: Behind the Scenes with the Boston Celtics, presented by Flexcar. In my opinion, if there is a podcast God, he's looking down on us today, 'cause this is the podcast we have wanted forever. And Jalen, I gotta say thank you to you. Because just last week you gave us the goods. Cookies and cream. This is the Cookies and Cream podcast with Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis.

Make some noise.

Cookies and cream. Yes, please.

Yes.

I wish I had some cookies and cream on set for us to eat right now. But since I don't, can you at least tell me how this came about? I know you said that Missoula is the guy who dropped it, but when did this happen? Like, when did he term you guys as Cookies and Cream?

I think it was just a random day in practice. Like, we were just like— It was after a couple of games. We had a couple of good games early in the season, and Joe just comes in in the film session and is just like, "What are we gonna call this, Cookies and Cream, huh?" And then—

And it stuck?

I guess it kind of just stuck.

KP, were you in all the way from the jump?

I was not convinced.

No?

I was not convinced at first, but he just kept going with it, and then we had another good game, another good game. We had that connection, and I guess Joe just gave us that name.

The funny thing about it though is that early in the season, Joe came and talked to us in the media, and we were asking questions. I think it was after you posted the stepbrothers post on, uh, on your Instagram, and we were like asking Joe about your guys' relationship, and he was like, I didn't even know they were that tight. I don't know if that was like Joe being like deadpanning to us because he does that a lot, but—

For sure.

It's funny that he's the one that came up with the name that now everyone is calling you guys.

Yeah, Joe, Joe gets all the credit for that. You know, that wasn't me, that wasn't KP, that was all Joe.

How did you guys become such fast friends?

I don't know, I think it was natural. We sat together on the plane, so obviously we started talking.

What's crazy about that, KP comes and like sits in my seat. I've been sitting in the same seat on the plane for like the last 4 years, right?

Ah, yes. No, trust me, I understand team playing and the dynamics.

You got your space, right?

Same spot.

It's your spot.

Last 4 years, KP comes in, you know, walking in.

First trip.

Brother, brother, brother. Brother, brother, brother. That's my seat. I'm like, you know, because it's KP, I allowed him to do it though.

I allowed him. He said that to you?

I gave him my seat.

He told you that was his seat?

He told me that that was his seat.

Wow.

He asked me if I could politely sit to the next one.

Wow.

He felt more comfortable sitting close to the window or something like that.

Is this a first?

First you were like, whoever gets here sits in that seat first.

That's what I said first. That's what you said.

But after that, you were like—

But then I just let you have it.

Yeah, yeah.

Right?

That's very kind of you.

It's the big picture, you know what I mean?

You're thinking long term.

KP's important to what we doing over here. So I want him to feel comfortable. So if you wanted my seat on the plane, Hey brother, it's yours.

But also Kristaps, yeah, why is that seat so important to you that you walk in and you're like, yo, that's mine? You're in a new spot on a new team.

Claiming your space.

Yeah.

That was the most important thing for me coming to this team.

That's true though. I have to get that seat no matter what. Where you sit on the plane is like important though for like the vibe of like everything. That is true. A lot of people will attest to that. People will show up early.

Did you start showing up early to get the window seat? Nah, nah, nah, nah.

I couldn't show up early if I wanted to.

That's just you.

But nah, KP was there and he was like that's the seat he wanted. I made him feel the most comfortable.

It's yours. So far it's working out. Who offered to drive for the first time?

Oh man, we have stories.

Let's go!

That's why we're here.

Give us the cookies and cream stories please.

No no, go ahead, go ahead— hey, what happens, what happens? Nah, we gonna keep that one. Hey...

Because when you can't— Oh my God.

This was on my list of what I had to ask is a story from one of those rides. You don't have to tell the one that you're saying right now you don't want to tell, but there's got to be something you can give us, right?

No, no. We live in the same building, so it makes a lot of sense to just carpool at times, you know what I mean? Or to ride back from a late game, you get in late, you know what I mean? Usually I'll have either a car service, but if you want to save a couple of dollars, just ride with KP. I thought that was a great idea.

Oh, okay, I see.

For the most part, that is smart thinking, right, everybody? Yeah. You know, until you realize—

It's efficient that way.

You know, KP drives a 1986 BMW. Stop, this is a Mercedes. Mercedes, stop, not BMW.

But what's the year?

It was a diesel.

Big difference.

But is it like a classic car or is it—

Classic.

Okay.

It sounds good until one day it just doesn't cut on.

Right?

Remember the first time I rode with KP?

Oh, what does it mean, like creature comforts? This really happened. Seat warmers?

So the car did not turn on. But this is, this is, this is where it's my fault. I don't even blame.

I'm going to fix this story.

But go ahead.

There's always two sides.

This is where it's my fault. Because like a couple games before this day that we were going to discuss, like I ride with KP and like I remember getting in the car and I'm like, it's cold outside. I'm asking like, is the car, is it going to start? So he gives me that look like, yeah, like it's going to start, but it's like an unsure yeah. And like he turns the car, he puts the key in and he turns it and it comes on and he's like, "Yes." He's like, "Dude, I got this." He really wasn't sure.

So like— You're saying you jinxed it.

So he wasn't sure that day. That's the thing. Like, I don't wanna ride with somebody if you're not gonna be sure if it's gonna cut on or not.

You need the experience of it not turning on.

He wasn't confident in it.

No, no, no. The thing is like it's a 1999 car. But it's so quiet and it just runs so smooth. I couldn't tell if it was on or off. I was like, is this car on? And he was like, brother, what's happening? I'm like, no, it's on, hold on. And so I was a little confused because it runs so smooth. So what happened was the car is perfectly fine. The only thing that's a little bit janky is when you can see the gasoline, right? It looks like it's half tank, for example. And all of a sudden it goes down super quick.

I've had that happen with my speedometer in a car before, where it just lets go. This is what happened.

We got in the car, and I knew from the last time I rode it, it was kind of on the low side. But now it looked like fine. So we're going home.

Oh my God.

And you can imagine what happened. And it was like the latest we've gotten back from a trip this season. It was like 5:00 AM or something, 4:00 AM. And of course, we get stuck in the coldest weather on the road.

Hit it. We ran out of gas.

Was that the one after we sat on the plane for like 5 hours too?

I think so. I think so.

And then you ran out of gas?

That was that night, yeah. It was a good adventure though.

What'd you do when you ran out? There's NBA players on the side of the road. Who do you call when you run outta gas at 5 in the morning?

We called Kara.

Kara Keener?

Kara. Oh my God, you know she is. Thank God for Kara. She, you know, there's nothing a lot that she could do, but she was at least there on the phone to support.

Emotional support while you waited for AAA.

While we waited for, we just, I guess we just left it there. But you know, this is where I take the responsibility. 'Cause one, the trip before I seen the unsurety, And I still put myself in that position.

No, right. So you're only blaming yourself.

So I have to blame me.

I have to blame myself. But then that means you would've left Kristaps out there all by himself.

That's true.

If you weren't there.

You know what?

This made the connection even stronger.

Yeah. You're right.

That's when cookies and cream really got to the next level.

True. You know, years ago, Evan Turner told a story about his Ferrari and the same thing happened. The gas all of a sudden was there and then it wasn't. And he got stuck on the side of the road. And I was like, that doesn't happen. What are you talking about?

Slightly different than the '99 Mercedes.

Even. Why do you still have a '99 Mercedes in high school?

How long have you had this car?

I love classic cars. I'm a big Mercedes guy. And that's actually one of my favorite cars to drive. Drives super smooth. It's like—

When it drives.

No, no, no. It's— believe me, it's in good condition.

It's in good condition. It's in Boston, man.

It's ice.

Yeah.

Yes.

You need all-wheel drive.

Do you have experience doing this?

This dude got it.

OK.

This car is super safe.

I'm telling you.

I was going to say, that's the lesson you learn. It's just like, be confident.

Just you have to fill up the gas. That's it. We would have been fine.

Oh my God. All right. So you're in the same building, right? We've already covered that. Sometimes you ride with each other when the car works. How—

Never again.

Really?

It's hard.

He's remembering every time.

It wasn't that bad. It wasn't that bad.

How did you guys end up in the same building? Is it through the team, a recommendation?

No, I think it's random. I think you bought the units right there.

Yeah, it was a brand new building. Just opened up in like April or something like that. Probably one of the newer buildings in Boston. And, you know, I was looking for a new place at the time. So, and then he was just moving to the city. So I guess it just kind of worked out.

It's really not far from the Garden. Do you ever walk?

Ooh, that would be, that would be dangerous.

Yeah.

I feel like you two would stick out in public if you walked to TD Garden.

I think I can get away with it.

Well, you do have the doppelgänger who's like already out there. So you don't know, it could be.

Yeah, he'll steal the show while you sneak in.

He could be your decoy.

A lot of people, they see that, they don't, they have some maturity now. It's like, you know, I feel like I can get away with it if I want.

Mark, you know what I thought when I found out Flexcar was gonna be our new sponsor?

No, what'd you think?

I don't know. I don't know what I thought.

Neither did I, but then I went and checked it out.

And?

And it's basically a car subscription, and you choose the mileage package that fits you best, and that's it.

Okay, cool.

Yeah, it's honestly pretty cool, and it includes roadside assistance 24/7. $297. Car insurance and maintenance, it's all included.

In one bill?

All in one bill. The only thing that is not included is the gas you put in the tank. And on top of that, it's cheaper. It's like 10 to 20% cheaper than buying or leasing a car. And what are you doing right now?

I'm finding my next car.

All right, well, if you're doing that, make sure you use the code Rafters. Mm-hmm. And you'll get 100 free miles when you sign up. So off the court, it's great. But the reason the Cookies and Cream actually got dropped publicly, which has now turned into a wallpaper that— I don't know if you guys saw that on the Celtics handle. Pay-per-view guys with Cookies and Cream. But the reason it got out there is because you retweeted a, or you quote tweeted a highlight reel of just you guys on the court. Highlights of you guys on the court. It's almost 3 minutes long, the highlight reel of just you two already this season. So how has the off the court relationship actually translated into the success that you guys have felt together? I mean, I just feel like the connection, the behind the back passes, the back cuts, like it's like you guys know where each other are going to be at all times.

I think our games really just complement each other. Like, you know, him being a great shooter and then also a lob threat puts teams in a difficult position, especially when I'm trying to get downhill. Because it just makes the read either easy. I mean, I could throw it up if you step up, or if he pops, then I'm just hitting him on a pop, and then I can just hit him every time. And if that big, if he's there, he doesn't kind of know what to do. Do I stop Jalen from getting downhill, or do I— rotate to KP, who's just hit 3 threes in a row.

It's like—

It's a lose-lose.

It's a difficult position to be in, especially if we're playing with pace and we're, and we got it rolling. So I think our games just kind of complement each other. So, you know, I think it's been a great fit.

When it comes to chemistry, and this is something I talk about with Skal all the time, I feel like you don't necessarily have to get along off the court to make things work on the court, but how much easier does it make it when you do?

I think it helps us in terms of like being able to communicate with each other, say things to each other, and not take it personally because we're cool off the court also, you know. And that way you can like kind of push each other and tell each other things maybe that are not, you know, things you would say to somebody that you're not as close to, you know. On the court you can, and I think that's where that's where we have that advantage, you know, because of our relationship off the court. And obviously, as he said, we just match on the court and try to look for each other. And it's honestly, it just kind of happened off the court and on the court, like, supernaturally.

How often has that— have you guys had that feeling just in your individual careers, like growing up, playing in AAU, playing in college? Like, how often have you felt that connection with another player like you guys do? And have through the first handful of months of the season?

Uh.

Because it seems rare is kind of what I'm getting at. Like, it doesn't feel like that happens often in general.

Nah, I've had good connections. Like, me and Smart had a good connection.

Yep.

Last year we used to get all those back cuts.

Yep.

You know, it would have, you know, I've had good connections, but this is definitely, you know, one of the best for sure. But, you know, over the course of your life, you play a lot of, you know, games and teams, but now KP definitely ranks at the very top, just chemistry, just in year one. Like, we haven't been playing together for a full year yet, and you already see how many, like, highlights and points and that we've been able to generate. So imagine playing, like, for a longer period of time, it could even be better. But yeah, definitely, definitely right at the top.

Yeah. And for me also, like, I would say kind of same thing as him with Smart. He had that connection. Me playing with Brad Beal and finding him on those backdoors and kind of him coming off with that explosivity that he has helped me, you know, just click with JB right away also because there are some similarities in their games, you know, just how dynamic both of them are and how can they get downhill and create for others.

Jalen, for you this season, and we've talked a lot about trying to step up into that leadership role, I feel like it's not just the connection with KP either. Kind of taking some of the other new guys under your wing and how much of that is important to you and are you seeing the results on the floor?

Yeah, for sure. And people get mad at me, but like, you know, as a part of like being a leader is trying to get your guys involved. So that means each and every night, that doesn't mean I have to score or look to score the ball every single night, you know. And obviously, you know, everybody wants you to come out and drop 30 points a game and everybody be happy. But at the same time, making sure Sam gets shots, making sure Peyton, finding our guys, playing through them, you know, gives him the rhythm and the confidence that we need going forward, getting him rolling. Cause when he scores, you know, he's feeling good. He's blocking shots. He's hitting threes, you know. So sometimes I've, you know, you know, trying to find a balance of being aggressive myself, but also understanding, seeing the game and knowing that like I need.

Yeah.

The teammates around me to be the best version of themselves. And that means if they watching me just scoring the ball, that, you know, that they're not getting the game experience that I need them to have sometimes.

That also means sometimes you have to give up your seat on the plane. Exactly.

Sharing the team. That's the biggest sacrifice he's made this season.

It's the big picture.

That's the biggest sacrifice.

If we win a championship this year, everybody's gonna point back to that.

Yep.

Yep.

Started with the seat on the plane.

JB gave up a seat.

The sacrifice. Talk about sacrifice. Huge. My last question is, when are we gonna get some merch? Are you guys working on that? Like an album cover?

There are. Have you seen the t-shirts? The Step Brothers t-shirts? Mm-hmm.

You guys gotta get on top of that.

Yeah, for sure.

I mean, you're more like the merch guy and all this, like marketing, you know?

Figure it out.

Give me just some commission and we're good.

7 is 60/40.

60/40.

35.

Me.

I'm doing the work.

What about shipping in for gas though? He's paying for the—

now.

What about all the rides home?

You guys are going to launch your own podcast, Cookies and Cream. Personality-wise though, that is one of the interesting things to me is that like if we— Abby and I were talking earlier, I'm like, if we just looked at the list of players on the roster this year before the season started and we predicted who we're going to become like best friends, I don't know why, but I just wouldn't have predicted you guys because you have such different upbringings. Different, uh, you have different positions on the court, different games. Why do you think this happened? And Jalen, I know you talked at the beginning of the season about he's way funnier than most of us know who aren't around him every day. Like, how much did that impact the relationship early on?

For sure. Uh, definitely a funny guy over here. But, uh, he also—

The winks.

Just super laid back. Just super cool. Everything is cool. Everything is like, it's sexy. You know what I mean? It's a wink. It's a point. He walks in. You know what I mean? Everything is that with him. So like, it's just—— it's funny to be around on a daily basis.

What is something, KP, we don't know about JB?

Um, that we don't know about JB? I don't know, but I was gonna add to like, I think what also like helped us, or what like why we got along right away, is we share like a lot of views on like things outside the court, you know? We share it like we, we view things the same way. And we kind of had those conversations early.

Any examples? Just bigger things, just bigger things outside basketball, you know?

Okay, filter.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We kind of like, you know, we just clicked from those things.

I'm gonna be burning wanting to know the answer to that question now.

You know, and I think that's what it was also. And then Abby, what'd you say? What'd you ask me just now? Oh, what I don't know about JB.

What we don't know about JB.

Yeah, we'll be done with that one.

Let's see. You like that? You like to be mysterious?

Stays in the '99 Mercedes.

No.

I'll think about that though. I'll come back. I'll have some dark secrets about him soon.

I can't wait. We're going to do part 2 later this season. Can't wait. No, this has been awesome. You guys are the best. This is— I know the fans are going to love this. Cookies and Cream is like popping off on everyone loves it. You guys have been awesome to watch you guys team up this season and we can't wait to see what the second half of the season has in store for you guys and the team overall. So We appreciate you coming on. We appreciate you being open and talking about your stories from private rides from the seaport to the garden and to the practice facility. And we're looking forward to it.

Cool. No problem.

Thank you.

Appreciate it, guys.

Thank you.

Thanks.