N.C. States DJ Burns shows the power of a smile
GLENDALE, Ariz. — When the underdogs of North Carolina State face top-seeded Purdue on Saturday night, count the many times the CBS broadcast shows DJ Burns Jr. How his name stretches across a jersey that somehow fits a 275-pound frame. His hair twisted into four intricate 'locs. And more than that, they’ll show his smile.
After losing track of the many versions of Burns’s grins — he’s silly yet self-confident — notice all the times the game’s announcing crew talks about his personality. How much his teammates adore him. His great spirit and energy. And yet again, they’ll talk about his smile.
“Most big guys are gentle giants. That’s what he is, he’s got a big personality. He’s like that every day. That’s just who he is,” N.C. State assistant coach Steve Snell said. “He’s a people magnet. Just not because of his size, because of his personality.”
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Throughout the Wolfpack’s bracket-busting sprint to the Final Four, Burns has emerged as the happiest man in March — and now, April. Cameras have shown his metal braces so much that Raleigh-area orthodontists should be chasing him down with endorsement deals. Even on Thursday morning inside N.C. State’s locker room, as Burns sat in the center of a swarm of reporters and answered a rat-a-tat barrage of questions, he spoke with his lips consistently curled upward. Even the questions he found annoying — and clearly after the seventh inquiry about playing football, Burns was over it — he answered with a smile.
“Everybody needs a story to keep it interesting,” Burns said about other people’s dream of him going to the NFL. “Maybe there was too much down time that people could think of something, but I ain’t playing football.
“I’m a basketball player, we’re going to keep it at that,” he concluded.
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And when he plays his chosen sport of basketball, his smile fills airtime. On a basketball court, a smile doesn’t intimidate; it disarms. If you’re a big, bad man in the throes of competition, you’re not supposed to look like a cuddly teddy bear as Burns did while playing a conference game against Georgia Tech this season.
A smile welcomes, it doesn’t repel. And Burns’s sometimes looks placid, yet somehow still feels inviting. As though the 6-foot-9 man wants everyone to come in and share in this good time. During the Wolfpack’s Elite Eight game against Duke last Sunday, it was striking how often CBS centered key moments of an important game on Burns’s personality. And why have broadcasters and fans focused so much on a smile?
It’s more natural to attract people with lightness. And so the fascination with an athlete smiling could be that Burns is a refreshing novelty to the norm.
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At some point, celebrating a big play became a competition in who can look the angriest. Just hit a shot while getting fouled? Great, now go ahead and give the camera that stank-face, making it seem as though you’ve just sniffed a hint of dead possum. Or just scored against an opponent? Okay, now the only expected response is to hold your hand close to the floor to let everyone in the building know that your rival is “too small.” The mean-mugging and taunting, some athletes say, fuels their competitiveness. And who dares to douse the fire that burns within the best of the best?
Still, they think the meaner they look, and the louder they talk, and the bolder their visage proves that they are something they’re not: self-assured. And while so many other athletes celebrate their joyful moments with scowls and menacing death stares, Burns, mostly, smiles.
He’s comfortable in his ebony skin. While a happy childhood, guided by loving parents, must have fashioned Burns into the person we see today, I also wondered if society has played a role in shaping his personality. He lives in the body of a large, Black male, and he moves around a world often suspicious of men with melanin.
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If a man of Burns’s physical stature has a bad day — a luxury afforded to most human beings — his glare could be misconstrued as dangerous. If he walks around in a hoodie — a practical clothing item for anyone seeking comfort — he might be perceived as scary. Without his smile, some people would see Burns as merely a big, Black guy. And for his safety, that would be dangerous and scary.
Through the lens of college basketball, however, we see Burns beaming. An expression of Black boy joy.
He was smiling even as he noticed the size of the crowd inside N.C. State locker room Thursday morning. The room was large enough; the men’s Final Four is being held inside the Arizona Cardinals’ stadium, so no one’s complaining about space here. Still, when Burns turned left around the corner and noticed a mass of reporters and camera operators waiting, his eyes widened. As one reporter noticed him, her reaction spoke for so many others.
“A large human being,” she said, as Burns brushed past her.
During the session, Burns fielded several questions about his body. Even a query about his right arm being shorter than his left due to injuries sustained in a car accident. It was the only time Burns stopped smiling.
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“I mean, it’s fine,” Burns said, when asked how he felt about his body being a focal point. “People need something to talk about, you know? If you want to pay attention to what I look like instead of the stats, then that’s on you.”
As for those stats: Against Duke, Burns scored a season-best 29 points on 13 of 19 shots, with no turnovers. Through the tournament, he’s averaging 18.3 points on 67.4 percent shooting.
After Burns answered more questions about the game against Purdue, and matching up against 7-foot-4 Zach Edey, and even about his NFL prospects, I brought up the delicate topic. If he had ever used his smile to charm an easily fearful society. The locker room was closing, a minder was ushering reporters away, and my question came out rushed. Still, Burns nodded because he understood.
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“I’ve learned just to put my head down,” he said. “Most of the people who have those things [against people like me], they’re not happy with themselves. They hate themselves when they go home, so if they need to use the outlet to make themselves feel better, that’s fine.”
In the real world, a smile disarms; it doesn’t intimidate. And if you’re DJ Burns Jr., it can also be a natural reaction and a defense, attracting an audience that has grown accustomed to athletes glowering, and not glowing.
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