Shoot It, Kwame?!?
I'm sitting in the smaller media pod, at the east end of the floor. It's an area only three rows deep, and it's mostly TV guys and radio people, and I'm in the third row ... and there are fans about five feet behind me.
Anyway, I heard something truly astonishing about five minutes ago.
Kwame Brown, he of the stone hands and rim-banging offense ... got the ball about 10 feet from the basket. And a woman behind me shouted, "Shoot it, Kwame!"
Instead, the big oaf tried to maneuver to the basket, and was guilty of a charge ...
And I couldn't help myself. I turned and talked to a fan. Which I never do, but this was a special case.
I said to her, "You can't be serious!"
And she looked at me, a woman of about 25, and said, "Why not?"
And I said, "It's Kwame!"
She looked back with defiance. As if she meant what she said and would say it again, no matter that it possibly could have been the dumbest three words uttered inside Staples all night.
Maybe it was his sister. Maybe it was his girlfriend. Otherwise, she had no excuse for suggesting that big stiff launch a shot at a rim he can't actually reach out and touch. That's his range: If he can reach the rim with his hand, go ahead and shoot it. Otherwise, pass it before you drop it, dude.
Anyone paying the slightest attention knows this. Apparently, that very large group of people did not include the fan behind me.