Meanwhile, Kwame Leads an SI/NBA Poll, Too
But this isn't a survey question you want to be mentioned in.
"Which player gets the least out of the most talent?"
Not surprisingly, barking dog Kwame Brown, ex-Laker, leads the way.
Which reminds me of something I was thinking the other day ... how the Lakers HAD to get better just by getting rid of two massive stiffs they gave serious playing time to for two years: Kwame Brown and Smush Parker. Each of them stunningly flawed players with an unwillingness to acknowledge those flaws and severe problems with teamwork. You know, that Branch Rickey saying about "addition by subtraction."
Some day we'll look back and ... wince? ... that Smush started 162 consecutive games for the Lakers the previous two seasons (until Phil Jackson FINALLY benched him, just before the playoffs last year), and that Kwame started 77 games during the same span. It's a marvel the Lakers made the playoffs both seasons.
Here is the SI survey:
Which player gets the least out of the most talent?
Kwame Brown, Lakers C...... 17%
Tim Thomas, Clippers F...... 10%
Eddy Curry, Knicks C...... 7%
Vince Carter, Nets G...... 6%
Darko Milicic, Grizzlies C/F...... 5%
Tracy McGrady, Rockets G...... 4%
Darius Miles, Trail Blazers SF...... 4%
Stromile Swift, Grizzlies C/F...... 3%
J.R. Smith, Nuggets SG...... 3%
Gerald Green, Timberwolves G/F...... 2%
Based on a survey of 242 NBA Players
FAST FACTS: Drafted No. 1 out of high school by the Wizards in 2001, Brown has averaged more than 10 points in a season only once (2003-04); this year he was averaging 4.8 points in 20 games through Sunday.... The 6'10" Thomas has played for six teams in 11 years, never averaging better than 5.0 rebounds a season.... Carter has averaged more than 20 points in nine straight seasons.
OK, I'm back.
A note on Tim Thomas: Interesting that the Clippers gave him such a big contract (four years, $24 million) when his reputation as a dog has been so well-known, around the league. Not surprising, considering these are the Clippers, but interesting. And I didn't think the rest of the league would have a sense that Thomas is an underachiever. I mean, don't you have to be higher-visibility for your name to be called out 10 percent of the time? But maybe if you're 6-10 and don't rebound and stand around the three-point line for long enough, people DO notice.
And Kwame ... in a small way, the survey isn't quite fair. Kwame IS a massive (6-11, 270 pounds) disappointment, considering he was the top overall pick in 2001. And his attitude DOES appear to be shaky. He always seemed, to me, utterly indifferent to how he performed. I was a little surprised when he said he was hurt by Lakers fans booing him, not long before the trade.
But his most basic problems are perhaps not something he could have "fixed" with hard work and a good attitude.
The man has horrible hands. He can't catch. He can't dribble. And that is the real basis of his ineffectiveness. Why he can't score, can't pass, can't finish.
I'm not sure you can correct that with more time in the gym. I believe you're born with that. Hand-eye ... you've got it or you don't. You might be able to refine those skills, but if you're starting out at the bottom, like Kwame ...
Amazinng, really. How many dextrous people there are in the world ... but so few of them are a chiseled 6-11. Kwame is a klutz. But a big, muscular one with athletic ability. He just was born with ping-pong paddles for hands.
And now? He's just an expiring contract. A guy whose big salary comes off the books this season, which is why the Grizzlies wanted him, in the Gasol trade. So they can spend that $10 million on a real player.
A year from now Kwame will be playing for the NBA version of peanuts ($2 million, maybe?) ... and I bet that will be his last contract. Hope he's saving his money, because he's not gonna make much more from the NBA.