This summer, desperate for a center and before they traded for Andrew Bynum, the Philadelphia 76ers reached a deal with Kwame Brown. He makes $2.8 million this year, $2.9 next season if Brown picks up his player option. Which he will. So Kwame Brown will pocket just shy of $6 million.
A lot of people from Philly shook their heads at that one (but not coach Doug Collins). And while Sixers fans don’t really accept Kobe as one of their own, he’s from the area and he doesn’t get it either.
When Kobe was smashing Smush Parker the other day, he fired at Kwame as well, reports the Los Angeles Times.
“I don’t know how he convinced Philadelphia to cough up $7 million a year,” said Bryant, slightly inflating Brown’s salary. “They want to lock us out, but they’ll pay him $7 million.”
So you don’t like the idea of the veteran Brown as Andrew Bynum’s mentor, just like in L.A.?
“You know what, he may have showed Andrew a couple of things though, especially on screen-and-roll coverages and one-on-one defense. Offensively? No way,” Bryant said. “Kwame, he’s a great defensive player. He’s one of the best defensive big men I’ve ever seen. But in terms of offense, he was challenged.”
Brown is a good one-on-one post defender, which makes him a great practice partner for Bynum. His rotations and his screen-and-roll coverages are not as good as Kobe seems to remember.
And “challenged” is a kind word for Brown’s offensive game. Then there are the mental aspects of the game, where Kobe compared Kwame to “Weekend at Bernie’s.”
Any other former Lakers Kobe wants to smack around now? Maybe some Chucky Atkins smack? Tierre Brown?
