Appearing on Los Angeles Clippers superstar forward Paul George's podcast, "Podcast P With Paul George," this week, one NBA analyst's introduction to many sports fans should have never happened in his own words.
Expressing regret for his animated reaction to the trade that brought in Pau Gasol for the Purple and Gold, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith's slander of Kwame Brown was a watershed moment that the pundit would take back if he could've.
As the main piece returning to Memphis for the services of All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant's eventual sidekick in Gasol, Brown's expectations for his career were sky high coming into the NBA as the No. 1 overall pick to the Washington Wizards in 2001.
Brown's stint in Washington D.C. wasn't exactly easy, and he struggled to live up to the expectation of Wizards executive and simultaneous player Michael Jordan and his leadership style.
Things didn't get any easier with his next stop in Los Angeles as Bryant's leadership style saw Brown's stats suffered.
Specifically, Smith at the time targeted Brown's lack of fundamental skill calling him a "bona fide scrub".
Such a description caught the eye of many basketball fans at the time and Smith's comments eventually propelled him into a more prominent role with "First Take" alongside longtime debate partner Skip Bayless.
For Brown, it was simply more salt in the wound of a disappointing NBA career relative to the expectations his high draft pedigree set out for him.
After the Lakers eventually won two championships to close the 2000s and open the 2010s for Bryant's final glory with the team, Brown had to watch as the key piece in the deal was the super Spanish sidekick he never could be.
To call Brown's career underwhelming is more than fair, but to say he couldn't play entirely after a decade long career in the best basketball league in the world is a statement that even Smith couldn't fully agree with in retrospect.
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