Most of us saw where Kobe Bryant took time to rip Kwame Brown during a guest lecture to a college class at the University of California-Santa Barbara the other day, video embedded above and linked here if you missed it. In calling out the transgressions of inglorious bastard teammates Brown and Smush Parker, Bryant took pause to mention that he would say the same thing to the faces of both players; this after eliciting chuckles from the class en masse by mere mention of Brown’s name. Surely Kobe realizes that every comment he makes, every action, is susceptible to fast dissemination amongst the Internets. He knew Kwame would hear his dig.

People are always ready to rip Kwame, myself included. Almost as readily, people blame Michael Jordan or Doug Collins for all that went wrong with him at the onset of his career with the Washington Wizards as the NBA’s 2001 No. 1 overall draft pick. Both men have admitted that they would’ve handled the 18-year old differently, Collins at various times even admitting that their scouting was duped by Kwame’s accelerated physique and confident persona in a pre-draft workout where he bested, and beasted, high school contemporary Tyson Chandler. Jordan, now majority owner of the Bobcats, attempted to swallow his mistakes last summer by reuniting with Kwame in Charlotte.

Others have blamed the burden of a child basketball prodigy entering the league during the indisputable height of the corrupt AAU basketball scene. Kwame was the poster child for the one-and-done college rule, and he likely would have been exposed as a later-round selection had he gone to the University of Florida to play with the likes of Udonis Haslem, Matt Bonner and David Lee. An example of Brown’s insight in April 2001 before officially deciding to turn pro (via the Sun-Sentinel.com): Read more »

Links, commentary, strange connections, and silly photos of Gilbert Arenas, randomness…

Bryon Russell will be forever cemented into Michael Jordan lore. You know exactly why. And evidently, Russell holds a solid spot in Washington Wizards/Gilbert Arenas lore as well.

Because of Jordan’s last shot as a Chicago Bull, a game six and championship winner that took place in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 14, 1998, which came courtesy of a Jordan push-off of Russell and subsequent burial of the Utah Jazz, Russell and Jordan will always be connected. The moment has been in/on video games, video game commercials, posters, artwork,  t-shirts, books, and captured via wide-ranging multimedia design. No one has been, and perhaps no one will ever be, more remembered for having a basketball shot hit on them. The rest of it travels down an unexpected road.

After the shot marinated in basketball history for over four years Russell teamed up with Jordan on the 2002-03 Washington Wizards, a team surrounded with strife and disaster that failed to even make the playoffs in Jordan’s final NBA season. Russell averaged 4.5 points and 3.0 rebounds over 19.8 minutes per game and appeared in 70 contests. Russell then joined the 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers, a team that epically failed to be a team in the NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons. No championship for Bryon. Russell played 16 total minutes during that playoff run, the swan songs for the careers of Karl Malone and Horace Grant, and the end of the Kobe/Shaq era; Gary Payton was also involved.

Russell next appeared in 70 games with the 2004-05 Denver Nuggets and in just one game for Denver the following season before retiring from the league. Then came September 2009. Jordan, in his Hall of Fame induction speech that was ‘so’ Jordan, made mention of Russell. Read more »

[Ed. Note: I'm going to warn you. Rashad is about to divulge himself as a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Please, do not be outraged. I already knew this and it is okay. He's a fine young man (who's older than me) and you should not hold his fandom of a certain team about 140 miles north against him. Now Mr. Mobley is going to explain why the Bobcats are worth checking out, aside from wondering if Gerald Wallace is going to injure yet another Wizard. -Kyle W.]

I have been a Philadelphia Eagles fan since 1985 when I saw Randall Cunningham running and passing his way to superstardom.   And although they have just one Super Bowl appearance and no titles during my 25 years of  loyalty, my allegiance remains strong.

Unfortunately,  since sports is mostly about business and not fan loyalty, some of my favorite players have left the Eagles via trade, free agency or waivers.  Randall Cunningham retired as an Eagle and then unretired and played for Minnesota; Reggie White left for Green Bay via free agency; Terrell Owens was released and then he signed with Dallas; and just this past summer, Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins.

{Antawn looks confused about Cleveland}

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A D.C. pic, some Michael Jordan commentary, and links …

[Cavalier Liquor - 14th St. & Parkwood Pl. NW - Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

Not All For Nothing, Perhaps.

Michael Jordan, as owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, is trying to do things the right way, this time … so it seems. There’s a must-read on TrueHoop right now called, “Michael Jordan’s Bobcat Comeback.” This induced several thoughts:

• I’m not privy to all the insider knowledge of the disconnect between Jordan’s “people” and Abe Pollin’s “people” during Jordan’s tenure as a player and executive in D.C. — However, just as inept as Jordan seemed to be, or rather, bad at building a team/community environment, one could easily lay blame on both sides of the track. Pollin, a great man for his community and his employees, was also known to be a bit fickle and set in his ways.
• For instance, it seemed to be well-known that “agents” weren’t high on Pollin’s list of likable figures, especially David Falk (Jordan’s agent). One could insinuate that Pollin generalized the nature of agents as “inherently evil,” which might be taking a little too far. Pollin was a man who instead opted for handshakes and looks-in-the-eye in a changing environment that called more for established protocol, and hence, agents as intermediaries. He couldn’t separate the issue of “old school trust,” dealing directly with players, in which Pollin, being the older, smarter, richer man, would have had the advantage, versus the fine print of crossing Ts and doting Is on a legal document as a CYA contingency needed on the part of the players (and teams).
• Of course, I’ve also shared some of Pollin’s sentiment regarding agents.
• So, Pollin might not have always had optimal relationships with agents (although I’m sure there were some he got along with) … but still, it’s easy to deduce how being slow to adopt the necessities of a changing league, or an unwillingness to let bygones be bygones and build more holistic unity, served to the detriment of the Wizards franchise for a long time.
• Which circles me back to my point about Jordan … what if he’s learned his lesson? Or at least has become more willing to see things from a different perspective? Or, has just become a nicer guy to deal with? People can change. It’s a scientific fact. And not saying that Pollin didn’t change, or learn lessons, during my tenure closely following the franchise for the past 20 years, I’m just saying that the “set in his ways” idea is not baseless.
• I recently appeared on a sports talk radio show in St. Louis, At The Buzzer with Brian Doolittle (Episode 17). Brian asked me to comment about the recent signing of Kwame Brown by Jordan’s team … and I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer. How should Wizards fans feel about the reunion between Jordan and Kwame? Should they not care? Should they hope they both fail together? Should they hope for redemption? It’s easy to not be a fan of Kwame, and I’ll leave it at that for now, otherwise opting for apathy.
• But it got me thinking … Ted Leonsis, as a minority owner under Pollin, was very instrumental in bringing Jordan to the Wizards in the first place (Jordan and Pollin previously had some “run-ins,” if you will). Leonsis wanted to make a splash with marketing pizazz,  glitter and the what-not (see also: giving Jaromir a then-record $77 million contract in 2001) … both situations failed pretty epically.
• However, as the case with most smart men, the lesson out of the whole situation was not lost on Leonsis, as he has admitted himself. You don’t build teams with big splashes (well, sometimes you do, but it’s rare and risky). Leonsis is undoubtedly better set up to succeed because of what he was able to observe — as a result of his own actions and as a result of how the franchise was previously run.
• The Michael Jordan Experiment, as bitter of a memory as it is/was for Wizards fans, ended up making Leonsis a better owner … and in all likelihood, a better, more consistent franchise (of the community) for the future. Ah, the cycle of life.
• So, you see, perhaps Jordan can change too (and maybe even Gilbert Arenas as well! — Matt Moore, if you’re listening). Maybe Jordan, like Leonsis, can learn lessons from past mistakes that he’s created — Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison. Okay, not much of a lesson there aside from the necessity of doing the bare minimum of due diligence >>>> TINY-HANDED PLAYERS ARE NOT MADE IN ONE WORKOUT … THOSE WITH WISPY MUSTACHES DON’T HAVE NBA CAREERS PREDICATED ON COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEARS.
• I am now unsure as to why I just typed in all caps (probably for some sort of effect), and why all of this is organized in bullet-point form.
• Otherwise, that’s all I got … hindsight is 20/20, but sometimes you have to go through bad visions to get to better ones … not all for nothing, perhaps.

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