Immediately following last night’s NBA Draft lottery, columnist David Steele, posted on Twitter asking that armed guards keep Michael Jordan from coming anywhere near D.C. until the draft is over. Wizards fans who remember when Jordan drafted Kwame Brown with the #1 pick in 2001 do not find this statement one bit outlandish.

I thought it worthwhile to revisit that hot debacle, and my research led me to discover that not only did Kwame expect, presumably, that he would average more than 10 points per game more than once (10.9 ppg, his career high in 8 years in the league), but he also thought he might get a chance to shine alongside M.J.

Here’s an exert from a June ’01 article in USA Today:

One of those dreams is possibly playing with Jordan, who is contemplating a comeback this season. Broken ribs 2 weeks ago slowed Jordan, but he is getting in condition to play again.

“I had to make my (selection) as if Michael Jordan will not be playing,” Jordan said. “If I decide to play, it’ll only add to what we’ve done.”

Brown is eager to play with Jordan.

“Who else has a chance to say that their boss is the best player ever,” Brown said. “If he plays, I can learn a lot, and I can still learn from him even if he doesn’t.”

Jordan did in fact return during Brown’s rookie season to lead the team in scoring with 22 ppg in 60 games, Brown contributed 4.5 ppg in 57.

Without getting too carried away with the hindsight here, what’s appropriate to describe these statements? Lousy with delusions of grandeur?

Apropos of nothing other than that Wizards fans have been having entirely too much fun today.

Like his Washington Wizards teammate and blogging kinsman Gilbert Arenas before him, Brendan Haywood has decided to retire from the blog game. When he started out blogging for Yardbarker earlier this year Haywood, the self-proclaimed Bad Guy, hoped to openly express his opinions w/o having to worry about people calling up the organization and inquiring as to why exactly he wants to buy Backstreet Boys records for Elin Woods? Well, as Victor Mancini would say, Hope is just a stage of your life (or blogging career) that ends – and can be seemingly be expedited when you support Mike Vick.

Haywood goes out on his Yardbarker blog saying…

I’ve had a great time blogging, interacting with the fans and letting yal know my points of view on different dicey topics but with the way this season has gone –at this point, I don’t want anything written about me that’s not basketball related. When you’re winning and you’re on top, you can really speak your mind and put your thoughts out there. When you’re losing and trying to stay afloat, you’ve got to know when it’s time to be seen and not heard.

I know some of my blog topics have been controversial but I just felt like writing a boring blog about how I went to the gym and got a certain amount of shots up just wouldn’t cut it. I tried to keep yal on the cutting edge and really let yal know what’s going on in my mind and it was hard to do at times. It was hard because a lot of times when you make comments, people really blow them out of proportion and interpret them in a lot of different ways than you originally meant them. Gilbert Arenas told me that it would be like that when I first started blogging but I guess I had to see for myself. I was amazed at how people cold really misinterpret my words!

Haywood won’t be concluding his blogging career on the heels of his own Blogger of the Year award like predecessor, Agent Zero. He did get 234 comments (not all negative too) on that Elin Woods post though. And speaking of comments, those who left comments on his retirement announcement post are mostly sad to see him go – there’s only six comments, but that’s six more than I’d probably get if I retired from blogging. Even Buster Douglas stopped by with some kind words for Haywood:

Dag, just when I was going to ask you for four Cavs floor seats!!!

Take care Brendan, now who’s going to fight with Chantelle’s?

Truly understand that people are going overboard.

I agree with not just blogging about your sport, because you want to show people who you really are.

Thanks for keeping it real!

Just another case of blogging bringing 7-footers and former Heavyweight champions together as brothers.

The legacy that is Washington Wizards blogging moves on to rookie JaVale McGee, who says the point of this blog secretly is to dare anyone with a Ps3 to a challenge on Call of Duty Modern Warefare 2.

This is turning into quite the lineage you created, eh Gilbert?