Washington Times Kwame Brown called Gilbert Arenas to say his words had been "misconstrued" -- an excuse that should be giving Brown's new team, the Los Angeles Lakers, fits. Brown skipped practice after Game?3 of the Wizards' first-round playoff victory over the Bulls last season, an absence reported the next day in The Washington Times. But, Brown was quoted in an article in The Washington Post this week saying he skipped the workout because if he attended he was going to slap Arenas, whom Brown accused of telling coach Eddie Jordan to bench him. Add another chapter to Brown's history of serial deflections. Let's be honest here. Words and messages -- printed ones especially so -- are often taken out of context and misconstrued. However, a promise made by a 7-foot, 270-pound man to slap the snot out of someone can only be interpreted one way and one way only. Why would Brown even bother calling Arenas to back away from something that he clearly meant. By his own admission this is why he didn't come to work. Arenas has matured DSL quick -- did any player do more on his own to help the victims of Katrina? -- and to no one's surprise he said all the right things when confronted with the Monday morning Kwame gossip. But who would have blamed him had he not? After all, it was Arenas who tried to cover for the absent Brown in May by telling reporters he had seen Brown getting sick. Fiction, a team source confirmed. Arenas didn't see that; he was just covering Brown's back when he didn't have to. Brown's agent, Arn Tellem, certainly wasn't going to bat for him. Arenas, an All-Star and a third-team All-NBA selection, continually stood up for Brown when he quit on his teammates in May. When Brown faced withering criticism, it was Arenas, more than any other Wizards player, who tried to divert attention from him. Brown's problems, of course, date to the days when he was at war with the old regime of Doug Collins and Michael Jordan. A plausible case can be made that Jordan and Collins were extremely hard on Brown and they expected too much from him too soon. Source
I see bias all the way through that article: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">7-foot, 270-pound man to slap the snot out of someone can only be interpreted one way and one way only. </div> I couldn't care less if he was 3 foot and 80 pounds. This is clearly bias. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Arenas, an All-Star and a third-team All-NBA selection, continually stood up for Brown when he quit on his teammates in May.</div> Just because he is an All Star, it doesn't mean he has extra privellages, again, something this article is trying to show. Clearly bias. To add my own comment, blah, blah, blah. Quit bitching and get on with your season. The Washington Post seems to be as bitter as Shaq is with the Lakers. They can't let the issue go. I've heard more about Kwame Brown then the upcoming Wizards season from that paper. Sure Kwame said a bunch of crap that he shouldn't have said, but just leave it where it was; in the past.
^Agreed Why have I heard of Kwame Brown "the bruiser" so much more than Kwame Brown the player? Lets see what he can do on the court, and leave it at that.
Yah, the Wizards will be getting theirs once the Lakers comes to town... Phil better let Kwame play that day....
Kwame is going to surprise a lot of people. Two seasons ago, Kwame was showing he could be a prime time player, but the Wizards were inconsistent in giving him the ball (no, I'm not playing favorites here, I watched every single Wizard game that season). Last year, Eddie Jordan isolated Kwame out of the offense, he didn't give him the ball at all, even in games when Kwame was feeling it. It was obvious Kwame didn't have a future in Washington and everyone should of expected things to get ugly. If Kwame is given the chance to play basketball AND get touches, he'll thrive here in L.A.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bahir:</div><div class="quote_post">The question is; will he get more touches in LA?</div> I really think he will. Last season he had to share the court with three big tim scoreres (Jamison, Hughes, and Arena's), and this year he only has to compete with Bryant and Lamar. He should be a good 3rd option.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bahir:</div><div class="quote_post">The question is; will he get more touches in LA?</div> Absolutely, the Lakers will get him involved early in the offense. PJax likes to establish control of the paint by getting touches to his big men and allowing them to get some easy baskets. Once his big men establish a presence in the paint, it opens up the lanes for the slashers on the team and wide open looks from the perimeter. The only obstacle will be how quick Kwame Brown can learn how to play within the Triangle.
