In 2001, Michael Jordan took on dual roles as both a player and a key decision-maker for the Washington Wizards. As the team’s president of basketball operations and part-owner, he played a major role in selecting Kwame Brown as the No. 1 overall pick. At just 18 years old, the team expected Brown to be a game-changer. The plan, however, didn’t go as Jordan had envisioned.
Turns out, Jordan never really wanted Brown in the first place. Jordan drafted Brown, intending to trade him for the Bulls’ Elton Brand. But when that plan fell apart, MJ was left with a young, inexperienced big man. “God, I would never draft a big man who couldn’t palm the ball,” he said later. “It’s a lesson learned.” Looking back, some might say Brown never got a fair chance, considering he was still a teenager trying to find his footing in the league.
That’s exactly what former Warriors star Gilbert Arenas pointed out. Speaking on The Dan Patrick Show, Arenas suggested that Jordan’s high standards—and perhaps his own “delusion” about what made him great—negatively impacted Brown’s career. “It’s the standard, but it’s also the delusion of what makes you great, right?” Arenas explained. “So someone like Jordan, he thinks he’s great, or he was great because of his fundamentals of the game, right?”
That’s where the disconnect happened. “He doesn’t consider the raw athleticism that he had, the big hands, the 47-inch vertical, the fast twitch. He doesn’t consider that,” Arenas said. “So he looks at, you know, what made him the greatest of all time, not what he came into the environment with. You already had a Bugatti engine, and then you tweaked it for, you know, every terrain.”
And that’s exactly why Arenas called it “delusion.” He explained, “He’s buying Hondas and drafting Hondas, thinking he can turn them into Bugattis. Like, no, right? So it’s a little-bit of the delusion that he came into the world with the Bugatti already.” Arenas compared Jordan’s mindset to a luxury car enthusiast expecting every sedan to perform like a sports car. But not every player is built like a Lamborghini
Oct 27, 2024; Homestead, Florida, USA; 23XI team owner Michael Jordan watches during the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images
In other words, Jordan expected Brown to succeed under the same conditions he did—without realizing that not everyone starts with the same tools.
Kwame Brown addresses his Warriors struggle because of Michael Jordan
Brown’s NBA journey was tough, but under Michael Jordan’s demanding leadership, it became unbearable. According to Brown, MJ never believed in him from the start and made his time with the Washington Wizards unbearable.
“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,” he said, as per Sports Illustrated.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 26: Kwame Brown #54 of the Los Angeles Lakers plays against the Washington Wizards on December 26, 2005 at the MCI Center in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
And when he did get a chance? “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,” he added. “He drafted me to trade me for Elton Brand, but the owner of the Wizards blocked the trade.”
But the worst part? The outright bullying. “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,” Brown said.
The relentless mental and physical pressure weighed heavily on Brown. He revealed, “If ya’ll experienced what I experienced at the age of 18, ya’ll would have been looking for the highest bridge to jump from.” Brown’s NBA career never lived up to expectations. Not because of a lack of talent, but because he was set up to fail from the start.
If the NBA’s greatest player couldn’t recognize that, how many other careers suffered the same fate?
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