On June 27, 2001, Michael Jordan made Kwame Brown the first high school player drafted No. 1 in the NBA,
Brown played 12 seasons, but never reached the stardom that Jordan predicted, Brown only played a four seasons with the Washington Wizards before becoming a journeyman. He averaged 6.6 points in 607 games.
“Obviously you can see that he Is a well educated kid. He’s done a lot in terms of his basketball capabilities,” Jordan said on draft night in an interview with John Thompson on TNT. “He certainly has the skills. We entertained a lot of possibilities, but none could change our mind in terms of what this kid could do long term for the Washington Wizards.”
Brown then ended up playing three seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. He finished his career with five stops on different teams in six seasons. Jordan’s legacy took a hit because Brown only averaged more than 10 points once, which was with the Wizards in 2003-04.
Jordan is often considered the greatest player in NBA history but this night was full of losses for him.
“This kid is gonna fit the bill,” Jordan continued in the interview. “I can only tell you that we have a very good kid coming to Washington, D,C, and we might not need another one.”
Again, this was perhaps the only black eye of Jordan’s career.