Michael Jordan made a home with the Chicago Bulls over the course of 13 seasons. But at the tail end of his career, Jordan decided to suit up for the Washington Wizards following a three-year retirement from the NBA.
In Washington, Jordan became teammates with Kwame Brown, who celebrates his birthday today, and who was the first player selected in the 2001 NBA draft. He was taken by the Wizards ahead of defensive stalwart Tyson Chandler and one of the greatest power forwards of all-time Pau Gasol, who respectively went second and third overall pick.
Brown’s career didn’t pan out as expected, and the former Wizards center ended up transforming himself into one of the biggest busts in NBA history with averages of 6.6 points and 5.5 rebounds on 49.2% shooting, without securing any major NBA accolade.
It’s understandable why almost everyone considers Kwame as an NBA draft bust, given how his career turned out as the first overall pick.
Despite that however, Kwame Brown claims that he beat Michael Jordan in a one-on-one game during their time together in D.C.
“I beat him in one-on-one. The first thing I wanted to do was to play him 1-on-1. It’s basketball, just like if I was a boxer, the first thing I want to do is spar with those great heavyweights.
So the first thing I said was, ‘I hear a lot about you, but I think I’m better than you.’ So we ended up playing one-on-one. It was a fun game, good game. I jumped on him quick then he started doing the MJ thing, fading away everywhere.”
