Kwame Brown shreds LeBron James following Lakers being swept by Nuggets
The Los Angeles Lakers had the biggest turnaround of this NBA season with what they did down the stretch. After starting 2-10 and not getting back above .500 until the very end of March, LA, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, found themselves a few games off from the NBA Finals. Still, they fell just short as the Denver Nuggets swept them out of the postseason with a 4-0 sweep in the Western Conference Finals.
Now, considering all things, many would consider that finish to be a resounding success for the franchise. Kwame Brown isn’t one of those people. With several critics coming out this week against James and the Lakers, Brown went after LBJ in a social media rant for stat-padding and not getting off a final shot to extend his team’s season.
“You are a stat sheet junkie. You a bad boy when it comes to stats,” said Brown. “Throughout history, the little nerds are gonna look up your stat line and they’re gonna say, ‘He’s got to be the greatest player to ever play the game’. And people who actually played the game are gonna know that is bulls***.”
“I have never seen a guy of your caliber, supposed caliber, (and) you don’t even get a shot off? I played with Richard Hamilton and he would’ve got a shot off. Hell, Gilbert Arenas would’ve got a shot off right there. You didn’t even get a shot off!,” Brown emphatically continued. “We don’t even know if you would’ve hit the shot. You ain’t even get it off! Where’s your little touch move? You’re supposed to be the best scorer in the game. You got all these points.”
“But you were looking for a bailout again,” Brown said. “Kobe Bryant would’ve probably looked, rose up for a three, and won the game. That’s what great people do. You can’t say that you’re great. You’ve gotta do great things. That’s where greatness lies.”
It is true that James was unable to get off a final look to end the series. As he drove down the lane, Jamal Murray converged with Aaron Gordon to wrap him up and prevent him from getting any kind of shot up, let alone a good one.
To be fair, though, James posted a near 40-point triple-double in the sealing loss to Denver. At 38 years old, he tallied 40 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists over a full 48-minute effort that almost got LA over the finish line. Additionally, James averaged 24.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 6.5 assists over his 16 postseason games. People can nitpick all they want but, if that’s not enough, their standards are just as impractically high as Brown’s.
Getting swept is never a good look when it comes to the NBA Playoffs, even if the Lakers were as close as they could be in all four losses. Even so, while James gave it his all, he didn’t meet Brown’s standards for what he was looking for.