“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have
the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty
innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the
masses. The press is so powerful in its image-making role." -
Malcolm X
I didn’t want to touch on any of this. I even tweeted that I was
going to mind my business on this.
However, since Kwame Brown posted that first video on his
IG account (plus additional videos on IG Live and
his YouTube page "Bust Life"), there have
been multiple media outlets that have reached out to me to inquire
if I would come on their show. They wanted me to get in the middle
of what was going on with Kwame and Stephen Jackson and Matt
Barnes, and my answer has consistently been an adamant, "No." I
told them that they were not going to use me to fan the flames of
this beef. When I first caught wind of it, I immediately tweeted
that I hated seeing good Brothas beef to this level over something
that could’ve (and should’ve) been fixed with a phone call, and I
still stand by that.
I also have a lot of respect for all of them. I am still amazed
at all of the work that Stephen Jackson has done around the world
after George Floyd was murdered. I’ve interviewed both Stak and
Matt for my show, "The Rematch," and for my new book on
white supremacy and police brutality that I’m currently putting the
finishing touches on (shout out to Haymarket Books). Kwame and I
have been friends since we were teammates with the Washington
Wizards for four seasons, so I have always been in his corner. I
immediately ordered some shirts from his clothing line for me and my son. (We got
"Momma’s Cooking" and "My Momma’s Son" shirts).
I support all of these Brothas. I do believe they will
eventually reach peace in their own time and show all of the world
how Brothas can resolve differences peacefully, and then, maybe
even work together and achieve something that Pac and Biggie never
got the chance to do. Again, I fully believe that will happen in
time. And when they do squash the beef and make peace, I want to
hear all of the media who have been fanning these flames to be just
as loud as they are now... but I doubt we will hear a peep out of
the media about that. They love to promote drama and infighting,
especially with Black people. It gets ratings and that’s why I
emphatically told them all, "No." I’m not coming on any of your
shows to join you in fanning these flames.
In addition to the media, a lot of NBA executives and former
Wizards executives started reaching out to me, saying, "Hey, we
know you and Kwame were always friends. You should talk to him." My
answer to all of them was, "And say what, exactly? Kwame is a grown
man, and y’all are just worried that he’s coming for y’all next.
So, no, I am not interested in speaking to Kwame on your
behalf."
Kwame has a long list of people in the media who have
consistently degraded his image, his family and his reputation.
They have attacked him as a man for two decades and he has finally
had enough.
It’s like the movie "Kill Bill" when Uma Thurman had the list of
all the people who tried to kill her and was crossing them off
one-by-one. Well, that’s what Kwame is doing right now. So Stephen
A. Smith, Skip Bayless and all those other media people who have
assassinated his character for literally 20 years are now feeling
the wrath of Kwame Brown.
Many people have asked why I keep bringing up the media and why
I'm so anti-media. They say it’s the media’s job to report, and
Kwame, Stak and Matt are doing all of this themselves on their own
platforms. People say to me, "What about sticks and stones?" and,
"Kwame is being too sensitive," and, "The media criticizes all
athletes," etc.
Yes, the media’s job is to critique athletes' play. So for
instance, if they report that a player isn’t rebounding the ball
the way they should or that their defense is lacking or their shot
is off or they aren’t playing up to their potential, that’s all
fair game.
But when the media attacks someone personally and creates a
false narrative about a person’s character and manhood, that’s an
entirely different subject. It is done far too often now
that media personalities are treated like celebrities and paid
salaries comparable to professional athletes. It seems the louder
they are and the more negative they are, the more they are
rewarded.
With Kwame, it was so much deeper than the media simply “talking
bad" about him. The public degradation and the false narratives
perpetuated by the media actually hurt Kwame financially, as NBA
teams listened to those narratives regardless of whether they were
factual or unsubstantiated.
In fact, false narratives kept Carmelo Anthony out of the league
for more than a year. NBA teams were scared to touch him. So, yes,
Kwame has a valid reason to be upset with the media because they
took money out of his pocket with the way those false narratives
destroyed his character.
The media could’ve told the story of how he persevered through
an impossible situation in DC with Michael Jordan and Doug Collins,
and how he fought through unbelievable adversity at 18 years old.
They could’ve covered how he never broke despite Collins and
Jordan's attempts to break him. Instead, they began broadcasting a
false narrative that was detrimental to Kwame when it came time for
teams to sign him. It lowered his market value. They remembered
what was said. It didn't matter that there were no facts or proof;
the rumors that were created by the media impacted these
decision-makers.
In one of Kwame’s videos, he briefly mentioned how he was
treated in DC and how the situation was set up for him to fail. He
also said, "Ask Etan Thomas, he’ll verify everything I’m saying."
This led to my phone being flooded with even more calls, so I
decided to reach out to a few other former Wizards so we could
all verify Kwame's remarks. I brought Jahidi White, Tyrone
Nesby and Chris Whitney on my show, "The Rematch," to discuss what
we collectively saw. And just for the record: Kwame didn’t
exaggerate one bit about how he was treated in DC. In fact, we also
recalled a few horror stories that Kwame left out.
But the media didn't tell those factual stories. All they had to
do was ask someone who was actually there. I was there and I
still asked others for their account. Do some actual
investigative work!
But that’s not what they did. And one of the biggest culprits
was Stephen A. Smith. There are countless videos -- and I will
include a compilation so nobody thinks I’m exaggerating -- of
Stephen A. Smith bashing Kwame. He said, “He’s a scrub, he can’t
play the game of basketball, he has small hands, he can’t catch the
ball, he's got bad feet, he can't really move... he doesn’t really
know what he’s doing, he doesn’t have a post move that he can
commit to memory, he has no game whatsoever, he plays no defense,
he doesn’t have the heart, the passion, or anything that comes with
it." He called him a "bust" and constantly called out Kwame's work
ethic; for example, he said, "He didn’t work hard in 10 years,"
and, "[He] never worked and put forth his due diligence." Stephen
A. refused to pronounce Kwame's name correctly. He called Kwame
“nothing” and actively campaigned for the Knicks not to sign
him.
At the end of this compilation, you'll see that there's actual
footage of Stephen A. Smith going on a speaking tour to colleges,
high schools, and middle schools to continue his public degradation
of Kwame. He exploited every opportunity to further these false
narratives. He shouted fabrications that were simply baseless. The
footage shows him telling college students that Kwame was immature
and not ready mentally, emotionally or psychologically.
Now, I’m no lawyer, but I would think that Kwame Brown has a
slander case that he could bring against Stephen A. Smith (and a
lot of media members) considering how he was defamed, as long as
there's no statute of limitations. He would likely win
because the proof is readily available.
I remember seeing articles about Kwame not knowing how to order
food in a restaurant, which I knew was a lie because me and Kwame
went out to eat on the road and he ordered food just fine. There
were stories about how he didn’t know how to use dry cleaners.
People wrote that he was depressed. Not to mention the pieces about
how he was garbage and a bust and shouldn’t be in the NBA. They
used words like "worthless" and a "waste." None of that was true or
accurate, but that’s the narrative that was constantly repeated
over and over and over again until everyone just believed
it.
When you repeat something a million times, there will be people
who believe it and act accordingly. It shifts their opinion. It’s
like brainwashing. And that’s exactly what the media did with
Kwame. Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless, in particular, did this
and there are many others who joined in (and I’m sure Kwame has
them on his list). That’s why I told any media member who reached
out to me that I had zero interest in talking to Kwame on their
behalf.
Media, Former Wizards & NBA Executives: I
know you two were friends, you should talk to Kwame
Me: And say what ? This is y’all problem. Looks like he has a long
memory & y’all just worried he’s comin for y’all next. Kwame Brown
is a grown man. I’mma mind my business on this one
That narrative the media created was used in more ways than a
lot of people know. For a large part of my NBA career, I was on the
executive board for the Players' Union. I was also part of the
negotiating team. I was one of the people whom Billy Hunter
consistently included when we sat across from David Stern and the
NBA Board of Governors to negotiate the collective bargaining
agreement. I remember Stern using Kwame Brown and that same
narrative that was broadcasted by Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless
and others as a justification as to why we needed to create an
age-limit rule. They said that teenagers aren’t mature enough and
that Kwame didn’t even know how to order from a restaurant and how
much of a “disaster” it was to have young high-school players
thrown into the throes of the NBA. He actually quoted the same
narrative Stephen A. and others were constantly repeating, and I
heard that with my own ears.
Of course, Stern didn’t use the examples of Kobe Bryant,
Jermaine O'Neal, Kevin Garnett or LeBron James to show that
high-school athletes can successfully make the jump to the NBA. And
yes, this position was loaded with hypocrisy. To have no issue with
sending an 18-year-old overseas to war but adamantly objecting to
them playing in the NBA because they don't have the mental,
physical and emotional capacity to handle it is almost laughable.
Also, there was no objection for European players turning pro at 13
years old over in Europe (and I never once heard David Stern or
anyone else use Darko Milicic’s failures to justify why there
should be an age limit for Europeans). They welcomed them with open
arms. Stern wanted to expand the NBA worldwide so he wouldn’t say
anything against that expansion, but he had no problem using Kwame
Brown as the poster child for the age limit.
People always ask me: If you have such an issue with the media,
why did you become a member of the media? The reason is because I
want to do things differently. One of the main reasons I created
"The Rematch" was to give
athletes a platform to retell their story. I wanted to give each
individual an opportunity to reclaim their image from these false
narratives created and spread by the media. My hope is that this
makes the media as a whole rethink they way they cover athletes in
general moving forward.
To all the media who joined in with Stephen A. Smith, Skip
Bayless and others to assassinate the character of Kwame Brown over
the last 20 years: Before you say something about him now, you
really should think it through -- or the next video he makes might
just be about you.