As the first high-school player to ever be drafted No. 1 overall, Kwame Brown entered the NBA with some serious pressure on his broad shoulders. And though his career did last 12 years, it wasn’t filled with highlights, playoff victories or championships. Instead, he’s always going to be remembered as a guy who didn’t live up to the hype.
For what it’s worth, Brown averaged 6.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game.
Still, in his mind, his career was cut short when, during his final year in the league as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, the medical team purportedly misdiagnosed an injury.
“I had what’s called an avulsion fracture where the hamstring tears a piece of the bone away,” Brown told Bleacher Report’s Bonsu Thompson. “They were working me out every day, but they misdiagnosed me. They told me I had a mild hamstring injury. I was icing when I should’ve had surgery to pin it back.”
Ouch.
Whether a correct diagnosis would have extended his NBA career is debatable. In his 12 seasons, Brown averaged double-digits in points per game just once, and he never accomplished double-digit rebounds. And this was back in the day before the NBA turned into a small-ball festival.
His NBA career can only be described as disappointing, and if we’re being honest he should have likely not lasted 12 seasons to begin with.
Now a member of the 3 Headed Monsters in the BIG3, Brown is back to playing basketball professionally, albeit in a much milder setting. He’s having some success, too, and appears to be having fun again, which is what matters most.