Kwame Brown on how Michael Jordan bullied him in Washington: "They used to bring veterans into practice to beat the crap out of me"
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Kwame Brown had a rough going during his NBA career, and the likes of Michael Jordan didn't make it any easier.
According to Brown, MJ tormented him during his time with the Washington Wizards. The former number one overall pick sat down with Sports Illustrated to reveal the obstacles he had to overcome and the fact that Jordan never liked him from day one.
"They used to force me to workout for two and a half hours before games. Then they sat me on the bench until we were down by 30 with a couple minutes left in the game. As soon as I made any little mistake, the coach would be on the sidelines cursing and ranting like we were losing the games because of me. MJ never wanted me on the Wizards from Day 1. He drafted me to trade me for Elton Brand, but the owner of the Wizards blocked the trade," Kwame said.
"They used to bring old veterans into practice just to have them foul and beat the crap out of me every day. I had Charles Oakley threatening to beat me up. I was an 18-year-old kid. Ya'll thought I was weak. I'm one of the strongest men, ya'll know. If ya'll experience what I experienced at the age of 18, ya'll would have been looking for the highest bridge to jump from," he added.
The dark side of MJ
This isn't the first time a former player has spoken out about Michael's treatment of his colleagues, both as a teammate and an owner. Given the era in which he operated, Jordan was fortunate that he didn't live in a social media society that could have brought to light these stories as they were happening in real-time.
Brown, who remains universally trolled despite calling it a day on his career back in 2013, still has to live with the demons that followed him throughout his career. Also, he could never reverse his reputation when situations like this were incompletely portrayed in the media when attempting to make a mark in D.C.
Could it have been different Kwame?
When looking back on Brown's situation in Washington, one must wonder if the trajectory of his career would have changed if his experience and exposure with the Wizards had been more positive.
According to Kwame, he was putting in the necessary work but was always out of favor with Jordan. So, before he could prove himself, Brown was on a trade block. In addition, his role on the roster was to literally and figuratively be a punching bag for the vets inside the locker room.
Coming out of high school, many forget that Kwame was a highly touted prospect who had the intrigue of just about every front office in the league. The truth is he never recovered from his initial stint in Washington, and perhaps Jordan is to blame for not instilling confidence and providing opportunity for the then 18-year-old.