John N. Mitchell of the Washington Times reports that Kwame Brown is disgruntled. In Saturday?s win over the Knicks, Brown received the first "DNP-CD" of his short career. The 20 year old is struggling with his diminished role.
"I just don't understand it really when you say in the newspapers that we're the cornerstone and the future and then we're on the bench," Brown says. "I don't know of cornerstone players that sit the bench. They say it's to get my confidence up. Do I look confident to you?"
Coach Doug Collins has decided to go with the experience of Christian Laettner at the starting power forward. Since the switch, the Wizards are 3-1. Laettner may not be the athleticism of Brown, but he is comfortable in the offensive scheme and he knows the defensive rotations.
Michael Jordan approves of the move for now. "I think Doug has made a conscious effort to put his veterans out there and let the young players fight for their playing time," Jordan said. "Ever since that time we've kind of found a better rhythm in playing, and now we're starting to put our identity on this team."
Brown intends to use the benching as a source of inspiration.
"I'm out of the starting lineup, then I'm on third string, now I'm not playing at all," Brown said. "This is something that I'll use as fuel for my fire. I'm a little confused right now. But I'm waiting for that day to get better. That's how it happens. Laettner was in my position earlier in the season. Etan has been there. Now it's my turn to go through it, and I'll get through it just like they did and soon I'll be out there playing. But I knew there were going to be some ups and downs. And this is a down."
"I'll always remember this. This is something I'm not going to let go. This is something that I'm going to remember and hopefully feed off."