Celtics' Jaylen Brown likes his shorts short

Boston Celtics rookie Jaylen Brown has found a way to stand out three games into his first season: wear short shorts.

It's not that he's trying to go retro or start a new trend. He just prefers the comfort of the medium-sized shorts, and is quite adamant about it.

"I think a lot of people like them," Brown told MassLive's Jay King, before offering a caveat. "I don't really care if they like them or don't. It's not for attention. I don't do it for other people. I like playing in them. I'm not trying to bring the short shorts back. I'm just trying to be as comfortable as I can on the floor, and I'm doing me."

Brown said Cal, where he played college ball, didn't have shorter shorts, and his preference for showing more leg goes back to when he was younger.

"I didn't really like the baggy shorts because sometimes when I'd dribble between the legs, the ball would get caught or whatever," he said. "Or like when we were younger, they used to make them really thick, and when they picked up sweat they'd start getting heavy. So the bigger the shorts, the heavier they get because the more you're sweating ... so the smaller the shorts, the less weight you have to carry. And I felt like I had a little advantage, and it just kind of always felt comfortable like that."

Brown is fully aware of the natural reaction to his attire on social media, but again stressed he doesn't care what others think. In the time-honored tradition of defiance, he even referred to himself in third person.

"I'm not doing it for attention," Brown said. "I don't care. I'm doing it because Jaylen Brown feels comfortable in short shorts. I don't even consider them short. They're regular shorts to me."