Kwame Brown: Michael Jordan didn’t believe in playing young players

Kwame Brown: “When making the decision to go right to the NBA, I looked at it like, let me get the money and take care of my family and my whole city, then we can go from there…I wasn’t chasing money though. I was chasing legacy. Where I was from, I wasn’t supposed to be where I was. My father was a murderer, and I didn’t want the same legacy for my children.” -via YouTube / January 17, 2023

Kwame Brown: “Everybody on my team got rookie hazing, except Brendan Haywood, because he went to North Carolina,” said Brown. I played for Charles Oakley and Jordan in Charlotte, and we were fine. As long as my check was there on the 1st and 15th, I didn’t care what Jordan was saying to me. If you talk to other veterans on the team, you could get a real assessment of what it was like…Yes, some of those things happened, but it happened to a majority of players in there. I didn’t take it personal. Once you know that’s how someone is, that’s who they are…Jordan had a great enough career where he deserved to get what he wants. I think that the trade should have happened. That’s why you don’t hear me bashing M.J. Why bring a 39-year-old guy there and not draft who he wanted? -via YouTube / January 17, 2023

Kwame Brown: “I’ve been shot at before I was ever in the league. I’d been through real life pressure. But I was frustrated because no one wanted to hear me speak. They treated me like a child. It’s hard to talk to adults that don’t’ want to hear you. It got me frustrated, but that reaction is something that I could have changed.” -via YouTube / January 17, 2023

We’ve already seen 14 50-point games by 10 different players before the midway mark of the season. Now, folks are saying the high volume of players doing it is good for basketball. So that narrative has definitely changed in regards to individual performances. With that, Harden was asked if doesn’t get enough credit for having 23 such outings — which ranks fourth in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain (118), Michael Jordan (31), and Kobe Bryant (25). “I don’t need the credit,” he said. “I don’t really care. I guess, later or eventually, people will recognize it. People give credit to who they want to give credit to. They pick and choose who they want to give credit to.” -via The Philadelphia Inquirer / January 11, 2023

George Karl: Anyone who is debating Michael’s GOAT status doesn’t realize he would average a 40 PPG triple double in the modern game! -via Twitter @CoachKarl22 / January 11, 2023