If Kwame Brown is the future of the Wizards' franchise then they may just be in trouble.
Brown has constantly been the target of much frustration from coach Doug Collins and Michael Jordan over the past two seasons, and now Steve Wyche of the Washington Post says Brown believes Collins has lost confidence in him and that he is being blamed for the Washington Wizards' struggles to make the playoffs.
"I know I could help us get to the playoffs," said Brown. "I just think that I'm getting limited opportunities to do a lot of things that I'm able to do. I guess the coach has lost confidence in me. Nobody can do anything in eight or nine minutes a night. If I don't come in and do something immediately, I'm coming out. I feel like I'm to blame for everything."
While Collins did not comment on Brown's comments directly, it was printed several weeks ago that he would only play the players he had confidence in down the stretch, often mentioning veterans Charles Oakley and Byron Russell as players who maximise their opportunities.
Brown admitted that while he respects his coach, him and Collins do not have a good relationship. Collins is in the tough position of juggling an attempt to get Michael Jordan into the playoffs before he leaves the NBA hardcourt forever and developing young talent such as Brown, Brendan Haywood and Juan Dixon.
"Everybody knows he's in a tough position," Brown said. "I couldn't be Doug Collins. That's why I don't fault him. It's not fair for me to argue or contest what he does when I know he's in a tough spot."
Wyche writes that the relationship between the duo has always been rocky. After starting the first 16 games for the Wizards and starring early on, Brown was relegated to the bench for Christian Laettner. Brown admits that he never approached the coaching staff about what he needed to do to get his job back, stating that he just thought that Collins had lost faith in him. The coaching staff, however, felt that indicated a lack of ambition.
"I felt like nothing I did was going to get my job back," Brown said. "There would be games where Christian -- and I'm not knocking him because I love him to death and he's always supported me -- would make some of the same mistakes I made but he was allowed to stay in. I make those mistakes and I'm out."
"I just knew that if I came to them to get my job back, they would say prove it in practice. So I practiced hard and there would be days in practice where I would do well and not see the court that much in games. I felt they just wanted to go with the older guys."
Brown believes he is being "micromanaged", the term used by Collins last season to describe his over management of his prized rookie. When Collins eased off earlier this season - Collins himself stating that it was best if Brown could grow at his own pace - Kwame was playing the best ball of his career. When the persistence to be strict started again his numbers went back down.
"If this is not micromanaging, I need to look up the [word] again," Brown said. "M.J. told me he was tough on players like Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant. I don't understand the logic if it's not working. He admitted he micromanaged me, so why still do it?"