Michael Jordan Wanted To Trade For Elton Brand Instead Of Drafting Kwame Brown, Says Brown
In 2001, Kwame Brown was drafted by the Washington Wizards with the number one pick. Michael Jordan was the president of basketball operations and part-owner of the Washington Wizards at the time.
Around the 52:00 mark, Brown revealed that Jordan drafted him not to keep him as a Washington Wizards. It turns out that Michael Jordan wanted to trade for Elton Brand.
“I understood at one point; I had to love the game a little less in order not to kill Doug [Collins]. You could not love the game like I loved it, not play it, and get told these excesses, and you can’t play. Gain 30 pounds, lose 20 points, do this and do that when I know the whole time. You are not playing me because you wanted to trade me for Elton Brand. See, the Bible says you have to accept what you cannot change and have the wisdom to know the difference,” said Brown.
“Imagine a teenage boy start saying, MJ didn’t draft me to keep me as a Washington Wizard. See, I got caught in between a fight with MJ and Abe Pollin. I am a consequence of two grown a** men fighting and couldn’t come to terms with what they wanted to do. From a business standpoint, I understand why MJ would want Elton Brand. That’s why I never disrespected MJ.”
He would continue, “You have never seen me in an interview disrespect MJ; he gave me an opportunity. He changed my family structure; he changed my life. So, yeah, what he did was wrong, but he invited me back to Charlotte a couple of years after that.”
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