That's Called a Reality Check, Kwame
By now, you’re probably aware of Kwame Brown’s tough time at the Staples Center last night. Kwame had seven turnovers (four in a row during a horrid third quarter performance) and a few missed easy lay ups and dunks. Because of this, Lakers fans in attendance came down on him with a relentless chorus of boos. It was kind of a mind boggling thing to watch. I mean, I’ve been a Lakers fan my entire life, yet I can’t ever recall a Lakers home crowd directing that kind of merciless hatred towards a player wearing the forum blue and gold.
At first I felt bad for Kwame. I never want to see a guy on my favorite team get booed by the home crowd. Especially a crowd that is composed of with a good share of fair weather fans to begin with. I kept thinking that Kwame is a Laker, and as such our fan base needs to support him and try to uplift him. I kept thinking about how he had just come back from an injury, and how the fans were just being illogical to expect so much of him. However, after thinking about it a little more, I realized that some of those fair weathers in Staples probably did have a right to fire that vitriol in Kwame’s direction. I’m just making things worse by always making excuses for Kwame.
From his rough childhood, to his small hands/broken knuckles, to his just getting back from injury, why is it that I am always coming up with excuses for a man that has all the talent in the world? It’s really time for me to wake up and stop making excuses for a kid that has been given everything (in his adult life, I know the childhood was rough) without ever having to work for it. Kwame has the talent to be one of the best big men in all of basketball (the fans see it, his coaches see it, and his peers see it), yet he’s never cared enough to try and make the most of that talent. That’s why the fans get upset at him. Fans don’t want to see a player that makes $9 Million a season not put any effort out there--especially when a guy has all the talent in the world. And it’s not just the fans that think Kwame’s falling well below his potential. Sports Illustrated took a poll of 242 NBA Players on a variety of topics, and they listed Brown as the player who gets the least out of the most talent. Brown received 17 percent of the votes to top Tim Thomas (10 percent), Eddy Curry (7 percent), Vince Carter (6 percent) and Darko Milicic (5 percent), among others.
You see that, Kwame? Not only Lakers fans, but even your peers see you as an underachiever. And they don’t just see you as an underachiever, but probably the biggest underachiever in the entire league. That’s why fans boo you, Kwame. Not because you’re a bad player, but because you’re a player that has a ton of talent, but doesn’t care to work hard to utilize the talent. The Lakers are one of the most highly covered teams in all of sports, yet never once has it ever been reported that you’ve taken the off-season to work on your game. That’s why fans have had enough of you. I think a commenter on Forum Blue and Gold said it best with this:
“The problem is that I don’t see/hear or read anywhere that Kwame is putting extra time in before/after practice to improve (ala Jordan Farmar). I never hear that he hired a trainer/coach (i.e. “mind/motivational” coach or physical trainer) to help him better as a basketball player (ala Bynum). In fact, all we see/hear during those wonderful practice clips is a quick remark or two (usually from Phil) about Kwame and his shenanigans.”
Luke Walton and Ronny Turiaf make bone headed mistakes and turnovers all the time, yet the Lakers faithful (and fair weathers) have never booed those guys. Why? Because Lakers fans know that those two actually care about winning and losing. They also know that those guys work their butt’s off in practice, in games, and during the off-season. Lastly, they know that for the most part those guys overachieve. Both were second round picks, but through hard work and dedication, they’ve become better players than you. That’s why they have the fans loyalty. You're naturally bigger, faster, quicker, and stronger than most of your competition, yet your lack of work ethic has made you less desireable than some of your much less talented contemporaries.
Hopefully this is a reality check for you, Kwame. I don’t know if you realize it or not, but this is a contract year for you. No one, not even Isiah Thomas, is going to take a chance on you and pay you even half of what you are making now. And even if someone buckled and gave you the mid-level, they are not going to give you a long term deal at that rate to see you do what you do now. At least Tim Thomas brings it during contract years. You can’t even do that.
As I see it, your main problems are work ethic and mental focus. These are all things that can be worked on. You can get to the basket at will, but you aren’t able to mentally focus enough to finish. That’s why you miss layup, after layup and dunk after dunk. People mention your problem with your hands, but if that’s an issue, you should be going up and dunking the ball with two hands. If you could work on the mental aspect of your game, you could become an All-Star. Hell, look what happened to Chris Kaman when he decided to get help for his mental lapses. As well, you miss defensive rotations and assignments and loaf back down court on defense, your free throw shooting is atrocious, you’ve gained way too much muscle mass over the last couple of seasons (you're a basketball player, not a WWE superstar), and you've never really been in good basketball shape. If you were able to lose a few pounds, properly prepare your body for the rigours of an NBA season, train to focus mentally during games, and work on fundamentals daily, you could become a really spectacular basketball player. I haven’t really seen the will inside of you to do that. But you know what? I’m not giving up you.
It’s not too late to right this ship. But you have to want it. I’m sure that you’ve never had anyone in your inner circle that has encouraged you to be better. I don’t know you personally, but I’m sure there isn’t really anyone around you that is doing anything to uplift you. Likely you’re surrounded by hanger-ons and such that make a living telling you how great you are and making sure that your focus is on everything but basketball. But let me tell you this: once the money stops, those people are going to be the first ones to turn your back on you. And it will be faster and harsher than any boo that a Lakers fan could possibly send your way. I’ve seen it happen to so many athletes. It’s just a sad story, that I’m truly sick of seeing. That’s why I want to dedicate my career to working with athletes that really need guidance. Maybe you could be the first that I helped.
I guarantee you this: If you were to hire me today and let me manage your career, I could turn you into a good player within one season. Guarantee it. But I would only take on such a gig if I had a guarantee from you to do whatever I asked of you and that you would make basketball a main priority in your life. I’m in the middle of law school right now, but I would literally take a year off to start working with you if I knew you were willing to agree to my terms.
Kwame, you’re the kind of guy that loves to be loved by everyone. You want everyone to look at you as the cool kid. That’s why you’re always clowning around and trying to entertain all of your peers at practice. But if love is what you’re looking for, all you need to do is focus on basketball and reach your tremendous potential. Believe me, if you reached your potential, you would automatically become one of the most loved figures in this city. But it’s up to you. The ball is in your court now, Big Cat.
At first I felt bad for Kwame. I never want to see a guy on my favorite team get booed by the home crowd. Especially a crowd that is composed of with a good share of fair weather fans to begin with. I kept thinking that Kwame is a Laker, and as such our fan base needs to support him and try to uplift him. I kept thinking about how he had just come back from an injury, and how the fans were just being illogical to expect so much of him. However, after thinking about it a little more, I realized that some of those fair weathers in Staples probably did have a right to fire that vitriol in Kwame’s direction. I’m just making things worse by always making excuses for Kwame.
From his rough childhood, to his small hands/broken knuckles, to his just getting back from injury, why is it that I am always coming up with excuses for a man that has all the talent in the world? It’s really time for me to wake up and stop making excuses for a kid that has been given everything (in his adult life, I know the childhood was rough) without ever having to work for it. Kwame has the talent to be one of the best big men in all of basketball (the fans see it, his coaches see it, and his peers see it), yet he’s never cared enough to try and make the most of that talent. That’s why the fans get upset at him. Fans don’t want to see a player that makes $9 Million a season not put any effort out there--especially when a guy has all the talent in the world. And it’s not just the fans that think Kwame’s falling well below his potential. Sports Illustrated took a poll of 242 NBA Players on a variety of topics, and they listed Brown as the player who gets the least out of the most talent. Brown received 17 percent of the votes to top Tim Thomas (10 percent), Eddy Curry (7 percent), Vince Carter (6 percent) and Darko Milicic (5 percent), among others.
You see that, Kwame? Not only Lakers fans, but even your peers see you as an underachiever. And they don’t just see you as an underachiever, but probably the biggest underachiever in the entire league. That’s why fans boo you, Kwame. Not because you’re a bad player, but because you’re a player that has a ton of talent, but doesn’t care to work hard to utilize the talent. The Lakers are one of the most highly covered teams in all of sports, yet never once has it ever been reported that you’ve taken the off-season to work on your game. That’s why fans have had enough of you. I think a commenter on Forum Blue and Gold said it best with this:
“The problem is that I don’t see/hear or read anywhere that Kwame is putting extra time in before/after practice to improve (ala Jordan Farmar). I never hear that he hired a trainer/coach (i.e. “mind/motivational” coach or physical trainer) to help him better as a basketball player (ala Bynum). In fact, all we see/hear during those wonderful practice clips is a quick remark or two (usually from Phil) about Kwame and his shenanigans.”
Luke Walton and Ronny Turiaf make bone headed mistakes and turnovers all the time, yet the Lakers faithful (and fair weathers) have never booed those guys. Why? Because Lakers fans know that those two actually care about winning and losing. They also know that those guys work their butt’s off in practice, in games, and during the off-season. Lastly, they know that for the most part those guys overachieve. Both were second round picks, but through hard work and dedication, they’ve become better players than you. That’s why they have the fans loyalty. You're naturally bigger, faster, quicker, and stronger than most of your competition, yet your lack of work ethic has made you less desireable than some of your much less talented contemporaries.
Hopefully this is a reality check for you, Kwame. I don’t know if you realize it or not, but this is a contract year for you. No one, not even Isiah Thomas, is going to take a chance on you and pay you even half of what you are making now. And even if someone buckled and gave you the mid-level, they are not going to give you a long term deal at that rate to see you do what you do now. At least Tim Thomas brings it during contract years. You can’t even do that.
As I see it, your main problems are work ethic and mental focus. These are all things that can be worked on. You can get to the basket at will, but you aren’t able to mentally focus enough to finish. That’s why you miss layup, after layup and dunk after dunk. People mention your problem with your hands, but if that’s an issue, you should be going up and dunking the ball with two hands. If you could work on the mental aspect of your game, you could become an All-Star. Hell, look what happened to Chris Kaman when he decided to get help for his mental lapses. As well, you miss defensive rotations and assignments and loaf back down court on defense, your free throw shooting is atrocious, you’ve gained way too much muscle mass over the last couple of seasons (you're a basketball player, not a WWE superstar), and you've never really been in good basketball shape. If you were able to lose a few pounds, properly prepare your body for the rigours of an NBA season, train to focus mentally during games, and work on fundamentals daily, you could become a really spectacular basketball player. I haven’t really seen the will inside of you to do that. But you know what? I’m not giving up you.
It’s not too late to right this ship. But you have to want it. I’m sure that you’ve never had anyone in your inner circle that has encouraged you to be better. I don’t know you personally, but I’m sure there isn’t really anyone around you that is doing anything to uplift you. Likely you’re surrounded by hanger-ons and such that make a living telling you how great you are and making sure that your focus is on everything but basketball. But let me tell you this: once the money stops, those people are going to be the first ones to turn your back on you. And it will be faster and harsher than any boo that a Lakers fan could possibly send your way. I’ve seen it happen to so many athletes. It’s just a sad story, that I’m truly sick of seeing. That’s why I want to dedicate my career to working with athletes that really need guidance. Maybe you could be the first that I helped.
I guarantee you this: If you were to hire me today and let me manage your career, I could turn you into a good player within one season. Guarantee it. But I would only take on such a gig if I had a guarantee from you to do whatever I asked of you and that you would make basketball a main priority in your life. I’m in the middle of law school right now, but I would literally take a year off to start working with you if I knew you were willing to agree to my terms.
Kwame, you’re the kind of guy that loves to be loved by everyone. You want everyone to look at you as the cool kid. That’s why you’re always clowning around and trying to entertain all of your peers at practice. But if love is what you’re looking for, all you need to do is focus on basketball and reach your tremendous potential. Believe me, if you reached your potential, you would automatically become one of the most loved figures in this city. But it’s up to you. The ball is in your court now, Big Cat.
4 comments:
Nate,
I hope the guy I call "Twinkletoes" reads it and gives you a call--or even a job. He obviously could use a real friend--and your comments show wisdom and heart.
Kwame's relationship with the Lakers team is nothing like his relationship with the Wizards. Both Laker management and teammates are on his side. The fans and bloggers, perhaps already poisoned by ad hominem attacks from the East, don't seem to see the difference.
Kwame was brought back from injury into impossible expectations, and he has showed both heart and determination. He didn't fold or fade against the Grizz. He was 10points and 10 rebounds against Seattle and made two free throws in overtime.
Even though he committed a series of consecutive turnovers against Phoenix, Kwame went back on defense and helped limit the damage. He did his best--he just didn't make any of those incredibly Bynum dunks!
I cannot justify the comments in the blogs, let alone the booing from the fans. After all, this year began with Kwame starting over Bynum--and the Lakers went into a tailspin when he got injured. It took time for Bynum and Ariza to get integrated into the "new" Lakers, and the Lakers made a series of adjustments that made Laker eyes sparkle, not all of which may be positive for long term Laker health.
I guess the bloggers think that they know more about Kwame's ability and performance than Laker management, Phil, and his teammates. That takes quite a bit of arrogance!
Maybe they'll listen to you. I think he's more than ready for your makeover.
Well put.
Kwame is a such a tragic figure, you feel empathy but hate him for being his own biggest obstacle.
I'm honored to be quoted in your blog! And I really hope Kwame gives you a call......I can tell by reading your blog that YOU have PASSION for what you do.....hopefully you, or someone, can translate that same passion into Kwame. Keep up the great blogging (on this site as well as FB&G).
You are totally right about the work ethic. Step up Kwame! We're behind you. It was nice reading that Kwame was getting some Kareem time last Saturday. If Phil and Kareem can't get Kwame to perform at or near potential, no one can. Scary thing would be Kwame notably improving his game over the next 7 weeks, then getting Bynum back (not to mention Ariza, Radmanovic). Fingers crossed.
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