In the NBA, the Southeast Division -- which consists of the Washington Wizards, the Orlando Magic, the Miami Heat, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Charlotte Bobcats -- stepped up the hype this week as former Wizard Kwame Brown agreed to a 1-year deal with the Michael Jordan owned Bobcats. Will Brown deliver, or will he be part of a future shipment via Air Jordan?
In 2001, Kwame Brown was drafted first overall by the Washington Wizards. Michael Jordan was Washington's Team President back then, and the decision to draft Brown -- who became the first fresh out of High School first overall pick -- fell largely on Jordan's shoulders.
Despite being drafted first overall, Brown started in only three of his 57 games played during his rookie season. While he got things together for year three (10.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game), his immaturity and lack of chemistry with team star Gilbert Arenas sent Brown on a voyage after four years with the Wizards, as the young forward-center went out to test the Free Agent waters.
Brown played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 2005-2008, stopped in Memphis to play for the Grizzlies to finish off 2008 (while the Lakers stole Pau Gasol from Memphis in the process), then suited up for the Detroit Pistons the following season. Kwame stayed in Detroit until the end of last season, and on Tuesday, he joined the Charlotte Bobcats.
Jordan and the Bobcats went for Brown to clear cap space, as Charlotte plans to dump center Erick Dampier and his $13 million dollar contract while they sign Brown to a 1-year, $1.3 mil offer. Is Kwame, a nine-year NBA vet at 28-years-old, still young enough for a second, second, second, second, chance? And for Jordan, who will forever be remembered and blamed for Kwame in 2001 (although Adam Morrison wasn't that bad coming out of college), how will this move define Michael's otherwise fresh start as owner of the 'Cats ?
While Kwame and Gil fought in the past, Arenas went as far as to say "this will be Kwame's year" when Brown joined the Pistons in 2008-09 (Gil's NBA blog page is since long defunct after he chose to quit writing, but check out Truth About It for an excerpt). Likewise, Jordan, by signing Brown, is at the same time giving Kwame some second-chance credit. However, Brown is going to need much more than positive energy to reach whatever prime he is capable of achieving this late in his career, and I don't expect him to stay in Charlotte for long before trade rumors surface.
Around the Basketball Universe
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