Quote:
5.1.2008
It didn’t take long for Larry Brown to start zinging one of his new players. At Tuesday’s news conference to introduce Brown as coach of the Bobcats, the 67-year-old Brown said he saw Charlotte players Sean May and Hatboro-Horsham graduate Matt Carroll on his way into the building. He also said he noticed “the kid with the long hair. I didn’t know his name. He wasn’t dressed like a basketball player.”
That would be Adam Morrison, former NCAA Player of the Year at Gonzaga and the third pick in the 2006 draft. Granted, Morrison, a skinny small forward who missed the entire 2007-08 season with a torn ACL, is far from Brown’s ideal type of player because he’s a low-percentage shooter –37.6 percent as a rookie — not much of a passer and doesn’t defend. But Brown, who follows college and the NBA closely, certainly knows who Morrison is. To act like he has no idea and to criticize Morrison’s attire on the day Brown returns to the league after a two-year absence is uncalled for.
While Morrison isn’t my favorite player, either, Michael Jordan is the guy who drafted him at No. 3 when Brandon Roy, Villanova’s Randy Foye and other more well-rounded players were still on the board. Jordan knew Morrison’s skill set and took him anyway, despite his obvious deficiencies.
But Brown couldn’t resist ripping the kid. It marked the first of what undoubtedly will be many verbal shots he’ll take at Morrison, until Jordan eventually trades him or Brown buries him on the Charlotte bench.
Good to have you back, Larry. We forgot how boring things were without you.
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I think Larry Brown has a lot to offer in terms of coaching and basketball wisdom, but he needs to stop acting like such a prissy little bitch of an old man wherein he turns people off and immediately begins encouraging and ultimately fostering hostile opinions from others towards himself. He needs to be grown-up enough to know what to focus on and what not to. There are many, many bridges not worth burning. Pretending that he doesn't know who Adam Morrison is just makes himself look oblivious and out of touch (he was the #3 draft pick and the first pick of the team he just began working for, for Christ sakes). Morrison may or may not turn out to be much of anything, but to go negative on your very first day is a bizarre choice, especially given Brown's tumultuous history and proven inability to get beyond certain of his own character flaws. I was on his side in the NY debacle, but according to many, Brown doesn't deserve to coach in the NBA again. Note to Brown: pull your head out of your ass - you are far from perfect, despite your age and experience.