The Lakers should have never gambled on Kwame Brown
The period between trading Shaquille O’Neal and trading for Pau Gasol was pretty lackluster for the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant was in his prime as he was doing things that nobody in the history of the sport has done but the supporting cast around him simply was not good enough.
Kobe alone kept the Lakers relevant as he was the greatest player on the planet but the team success was so bad that it nearly drove Kobe away. One of the contributing factors to those struggles (as well as Kobe’s frustrations) as adding Kwame Brown.
Brown was selected with the first overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft and his career instantly got off to a rocky start. Brown struggled at the NBA level with Michael Jordan not being his biggest fan or supporter.
So what happened? Brown left and joined the team that had the second coming of Michael Jordan. The Lakers traded for Brown (sending Caron Butler to Washington in the deal) and the result was just as bad in LA as it was in DC.
Brown was mediocre in his two-and-a-half seasons in LA and his relationship with Kobe was not much better than his relationship with Jordan was. In a full circle moment, Brown was included in the trade that brought Pau Gasol (and winning ways) to Los Angeles.