blkmoney12
Rock Star
Bronze Level
Kwame Brown has faced a lot of adversity throughout his 12-year professional basketball career and his personal life.
During that time and even in retirement, he has also been the brunt of criticism and bad jokes from sports analysts and sports media personalities over the years, most of which he took.
So, in the past week or so Kwame's name came up again on the 'All that Smoke' podcast hosted by Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. They were discussing the trade of Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies to the LA Lakers for Kwame Brown. Stephen Jackson said the trade was a one-player deal, which seemed to set Kwame Brown off or got him ready to defend or comment on the issue. However, it did not end there as the infamous Stephen A. Smith (who has thrown a lot of criticism at Kwame for the past 20 years) decided he wasn't done voicing his opinion on Kwame either. After so many years of taking the heat from so many armchair analysts and those who make their living criticizing professional athletes, Kwame fought back through a series of YouTube videos and comments, in hopes of setting the record straight and not open for any further interpretation. The biggest issue so many of these 'haters' had was that Kwame coming straight out of high school and being drafted Number One did not seem to live up to their expectations. He did go on to have a 12-year career so, he definitely had something to offer. Charlemagne Tha God (an entertainer and also host of the Breakfast Club radio show) had shared his views to his audience which were not entirely favorable toward Kwame Brown, either (included rehashing his family history and a lot of violence). So, Kwame responded – not necessarily in the friendliest manner.
This entire issue gave me a reason to reflect and I believe there is a lesson to be learned. It seems too many sports media personalities have been given a platform to voice their opinions which are rarely positive – this behavior gives those in the public eye, labels or nicknames, and I believe the media is given license to drag a name through the mud, so to speak. In the case of Kwame Brown, he has been retired and is living a relatively quiet life and then all of this history is brought up again. I believe the sports media has 'poked the bear' one too many times and Kwame couldn't let this one alone.
My question is, do you think Kwame was right to defend himself or does this resolve anything?
During that time and even in retirement, he has also been the brunt of criticism and bad jokes from sports analysts and sports media personalities over the years, most of which he took.
So, in the past week or so Kwame's name came up again on the 'All that Smoke' podcast hosted by Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. They were discussing the trade of Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies to the LA Lakers for Kwame Brown. Stephen Jackson said the trade was a one-player deal, which seemed to set Kwame Brown off or got him ready to defend or comment on the issue. However, it did not end there as the infamous Stephen A. Smith (who has thrown a lot of criticism at Kwame for the past 20 years) decided he wasn't done voicing his opinion on Kwame either. After so many years of taking the heat from so many armchair analysts and those who make their living criticizing professional athletes, Kwame fought back through a series of YouTube videos and comments, in hopes of setting the record straight and not open for any further interpretation. The biggest issue so many of these 'haters' had was that Kwame coming straight out of high school and being drafted Number One did not seem to live up to their expectations. He did go on to have a 12-year career so, he definitely had something to offer. Charlemagne Tha God (an entertainer and also host of the Breakfast Club radio show) had shared his views to his audience which were not entirely favorable toward Kwame Brown, either (included rehashing his family history and a lot of violence). So, Kwame responded – not necessarily in the friendliest manner.
This entire issue gave me a reason to reflect and I believe there is a lesson to be learned. It seems too many sports media personalities have been given a platform to voice their opinions which are rarely positive – this behavior gives those in the public eye, labels or nicknames, and I believe the media is given license to drag a name through the mud, so to speak. In the case of Kwame Brown, he has been retired and is living a relatively quiet life and then all of this history is brought up again. I believe the sports media has 'poked the bear' one too many times and Kwame couldn't let this one alone.
My question is, do you think Kwame was right to defend himself or does this resolve anything?