Former Washington Wizards draft bust Kwame Brown signed with the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, his fifth team in seven seasons since leaving Washington. In discussing the signing with Yahoo! Sports, Mark Bartelstein, Brown's agent, tried to paint Brown's as a story of redemption, invoking his disastrous four seasons with Washington--which used the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2001 on the 19-year-old prospect--in the process:
"It wasn’t his fault he was drafted first. He wasn’t ready for the NBA. He was too young, there was too much pressure and he got thrown into the bonfire with Michael Jordan and [former Wizards coach] Doug Collins."
Brown signed with Jordan's Charlotte Bobcats squad for the 2010/11 season and performed fairly well, starting 50 games and averaging 7.9 points and 6.8 boards. "Going to Charlotte, playing for Michael Jordan, helped exorcise those demons from the years they had together in Washington," Bartelstein said. "It was great for Kwame."
Great for Kwame indeed. His deal with Golden State will pay him $7 million this season and enable him to become a free agent next summer.