Zen-like Todd
July-7th-2003, 11:15 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23450-2003Jul7.html
By Steve Wyche
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 8, 2003; Page D01
Michael Jordan and Doug Collins, the two most imposing figures in Kwame Brown's professional basketball career, are gone.
"It's a sigh of relief," said Brown, the player Jordan and Collins, then president of basketball operations and coach of the Washington Wizards, respectively, drafted out of high school with the No. 1 overall pick in 2001. "Everyone can breathe easy, well, not so much breathe easy, but everything that happened last year is over. There are no grudges. You get to prove yourself all over again to new coaches and a new staff.
"A lot of us are looking forward to it."
Eddie Jordan is now Brown's coach. Ernie Grunfeld is the team's president of basketball operations and will work from his office, not from the starting shooting guard spot.
"It's refreshing in a lot of ways," Brown said.
As summer league play starts up, it is unclear if the 6-foot-11 Brown will participate. When he does return to the court, he will be playing in his first professional game without Michael Jordan pushing, consoling, comforting or humiliating him, or Collins loving him, hating him, chastising him, playing him and then benching him.
Under Jordan and Collins, Brown averaged 6.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 18.9 minutes in two seasons, starting a total of 23 games.
Collins has said he tried his best to get the most out of Brown, even though his admitted micromanaging proved ineffective. Jordan said he had to give Brown time to grow when he drafted him, but over the course of last season, said he had run out of patience with his 21-year-old power forward. Brown said he was intimidated and held back by both, particularly Collins, whom he grew to dislike.
"The toughest part was the inconsistency," Brown said. "You play the young guys, then you're not on the court. You say you're going to build for the future, but all the young guys were on the bench. I understood what was going on, in terms of trying to make a run for the playoffs, but at the same time, you can't say you're making young guys better by keeping them on the bench. You can practice every day out of the week, but you get the most experience in the games."
Brown should get that chance when the 2003-04 season starts -- Eddie Jordan and Grunfeld already have publicly pledged their commitment to Brown. He'll be a third-year pro, and most of the players who have succeeded in making the jump from high school to the NBA -- including Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Rashard Lewis and Tracy McGrady -- made serious strides in their third seasons.
"Of course I feel pressure," Brown said yesterday, while helping coach a youth basketball camp at the National Cathedral School in Northwest Washington. "This is my year. Everyone is talking to me about this being the year high school players make the jump. I want to make an impact early and show everyone I'm here, that I'm not a fluke. That I'm going to be here for a while."
Jordan, who was hired to coach the Wizards after spending the past few seasons as the lead assistant coach of the New Jersey Nets, hasn't seen Brown play much, since Collins mainly relied on veterans such as Popeye Jones and Christian Laettner at power forward. Upon his hiring, Jordan said Brown was "the key" for Washington this season.
"He's not a key over the other guys that I respect and expect to have good seasons," Jordan said. "Kwame, from my research, has performed well below his capabilities, and he's a key in that regard. Not that he was the first pick in the draft and all that. That doesn't mean anything. I'm coming in with a positive outlook on everybody. I just believe that he might have to come from further down to get upstairs."
Jordan says he is optimistic about Brown because he thinks he shares many physical attributes with Nets power forward Kenyon Martin. Martin, however, is known for his passion for the game; Michael Jordan and Collins several times doubted Brown had a similar conviction.
"I want him to come in knowing we would like to institute a way of playing that will be very conducive to him," Eddie Jordan said. "He will know his role and benefit in his role. . . . He's going to run the floor, he's going to be slashing to the basket. He's going to be a play-maker and he'll be able to knock down shots after facing up."
Those are lofty goals for a player who was inconsistent in his limited opportunities on the floor.
"I have to be ready," Brown said. "If [Jordan] is going to live and die by me, I've got to step up to the plate. That means a lot, because no one else has given me a break. . . .
"We, as young players, get to see what we're made of. We don't have a guy like Michael Jordan around any more to carry the workload. We have to see if we can carry the workload and run the team. It's a new day."
By Steve Wyche
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 8, 2003; Page D01
Michael Jordan and Doug Collins, the two most imposing figures in Kwame Brown's professional basketball career, are gone.
"It's a sigh of relief," said Brown, the player Jordan and Collins, then president of basketball operations and coach of the Washington Wizards, respectively, drafted out of high school with the No. 1 overall pick in 2001. "Everyone can breathe easy, well, not so much breathe easy, but everything that happened last year is over. There are no grudges. You get to prove yourself all over again to new coaches and a new staff.
"A lot of us are looking forward to it."
Eddie Jordan is now Brown's coach. Ernie Grunfeld is the team's president of basketball operations and will work from his office, not from the starting shooting guard spot.
"It's refreshing in a lot of ways," Brown said.
As summer league play starts up, it is unclear if the 6-foot-11 Brown will participate. When he does return to the court, he will be playing in his first professional game without Michael Jordan pushing, consoling, comforting or humiliating him, or Collins loving him, hating him, chastising him, playing him and then benching him.
Under Jordan and Collins, Brown averaged 6.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 18.9 minutes in two seasons, starting a total of 23 games.
Collins has said he tried his best to get the most out of Brown, even though his admitted micromanaging proved ineffective. Jordan said he had to give Brown time to grow when he drafted him, but over the course of last season, said he had run out of patience with his 21-year-old power forward. Brown said he was intimidated and held back by both, particularly Collins, whom he grew to dislike.
"The toughest part was the inconsistency," Brown said. "You play the young guys, then you're not on the court. You say you're going to build for the future, but all the young guys were on the bench. I understood what was going on, in terms of trying to make a run for the playoffs, but at the same time, you can't say you're making young guys better by keeping them on the bench. You can practice every day out of the week, but you get the most experience in the games."
Brown should get that chance when the 2003-04 season starts -- Eddie Jordan and Grunfeld already have publicly pledged their commitment to Brown. He'll be a third-year pro, and most of the players who have succeeded in making the jump from high school to the NBA -- including Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Rashard Lewis and Tracy McGrady -- made serious strides in their third seasons.
"Of course I feel pressure," Brown said yesterday, while helping coach a youth basketball camp at the National Cathedral School in Northwest Washington. "This is my year. Everyone is talking to me about this being the year high school players make the jump. I want to make an impact early and show everyone I'm here, that I'm not a fluke. That I'm going to be here for a while."
Jordan, who was hired to coach the Wizards after spending the past few seasons as the lead assistant coach of the New Jersey Nets, hasn't seen Brown play much, since Collins mainly relied on veterans such as Popeye Jones and Christian Laettner at power forward. Upon his hiring, Jordan said Brown was "the key" for Washington this season.
"He's not a key over the other guys that I respect and expect to have good seasons," Jordan said. "Kwame, from my research, has performed well below his capabilities, and he's a key in that regard. Not that he was the first pick in the draft and all that. That doesn't mean anything. I'm coming in with a positive outlook on everybody. I just believe that he might have to come from further down to get upstairs."
Jordan says he is optimistic about Brown because he thinks he shares many physical attributes with Nets power forward Kenyon Martin. Martin, however, is known for his passion for the game; Michael Jordan and Collins several times doubted Brown had a similar conviction.
"I want him to come in knowing we would like to institute a way of playing that will be very conducive to him," Eddie Jordan said. "He will know his role and benefit in his role. . . . He's going to run the floor, he's going to be slashing to the basket. He's going to be a play-maker and he'll be able to knock down shots after facing up."
Those are lofty goals for a player who was inconsistent in his limited opportunities on the floor.
"I have to be ready," Brown said. "If [Jordan] is going to live and die by me, I've got to step up to the plate. That means a lot, because no one else has given me a break. . . .
"We, as young players, get to see what we're made of. We don't have a guy like Michael Jordan around any more to carry the workload. We have to see if we can carry the workload and run the team. It's a new day."