Kwame Brown on Bobcats: "The people embraced me and, hopefully, I can stay there."

[C-A-T-S]

The 6-foot-11, 270-pound visitor eased into the Pooler Recreation Department's gymnasium Wednesday morning and appeared as awestruck as the group of children staring back at him.

"I don't remember being this small," said Kwame Brown, who plays for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. "Maybe (like) one of the taller kids over there. But I definitely remember being this age, just young and out having fun. This is when it's real pure and definitely fun."

Brown attended the inaugural Play Maker Sports Basketball Camp for children ages 6-17 as a favor to camp organizer Ty Randolph, a former Harlem Globetrotter and former Groves High School coach who works as a personal trainer and mentor to Brown.

"It's a great thing to be able to give back," said Brown, who spoke with campers before joining them in shooting drills. "Coach (Randolph) is a close friend of mine. He worked with me this year. I started off in a program like this, so any time I can give back, I'll come and do it."

The camp, which began Monday and ends today, has attracted approximately 50 children each day.

"I've lived in the Savannah area the past four years and there is a lot of stuff going on in Savannah but nothing really for kids here in Pooler," said Randolph, who also enlisted the help of camp instructor Larry "Gator" Rivers, a former Harlem Globetrotter and former Beach High School player. "So coming here and working out sometimes at the Pooler gym, I thought it would be a good idea to try to get this started."

NBA journey

Brown, a graduate of Brunswick's Glynn Academy, signed a letter of intent to play for the University of Florida but declared for the 2001 NBA draft. Michael Jordan, then the Washington Wizards' president of basketball operations, made Brown the first overall No. 1 pick to go straight from high school to the NBA.

Brown played for the Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies and Detroit Pistons before signing a one-year contract as a free agent with Charlotte last August. He was reunited with Jordan, the Bobcats' majority owner, and reportedly was paid the veteran minimum $1.3 million last season, his 10th in the NBA.

Brown, 29, has spent the past decade being scrutinized and criticized. Many people have labeled him a bust for failing to become a dominant player. He entered the 2010-11 season with a career average of 6.7 points and 5.4 rebounds.

He improved on those averages with 7.9 points and 6.8 rebounds this season. He started in 50 of the 66 games in which he played, and thrived under the guidance of Bobcats coach Paul Silas.

"Paul Silas is great for me," said Brown, an unrestricted free agent who wants to remain a Bobcat. "He helped me out, mentally, and just allowing me the opportunity to play. A lot of times it's all about if the coach believes in you then you can believe in yourself. It was fun. I had a great time playing this year. The people embraced me and, hopefully, I can stay there."

Love of the game

Brown was attending the Bobcats' mini-camp but said Silas allowed him to leave to travel to Pooler. Brown said Wednesday's camp was his first in the Savannah area.

"I started off in a program just like this, a recreation department," Brown, the seventh of eight children in his family, told the campers. "I didn't have someone like myself to come back and talk to me. Some of you guys will become professional athletes. Some of you guys will not. Basketball can still take you to a lot of places. Basketball and other sports like baseball and football show you team building, and you can apply that into the work force.

"I had all the setbacks. I came up in a single-parent home. My father wasn't there since I was 6. He was incarcerated. And I'm 29. But I didn't let it stop me. I got into trouble one or two times following the crowd. That's when I learned that maybe I can have the crowd follow me. What I'm putting out is positive. You can be one of two things: a positive person or a negative person. I chose to be positive and positive things started happening to me."

Brown said he watched the NBA championship series between the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat, and was not surprised the Mavericks won the title.

"Miami played a little one-on-one style, and it was just more about who got the ball one-on-one," he said. "Dallas, they started with Dirk (Nowitzki), but Jason Terry, (J.J.) Barea, Shawn Marion, all those guys came out and they did their job, and that's what it's about.

"I'm a little bit jealous of all the guys that were able to be a part of that and be a part of something so special. I've just got to keep working hard and just try to get there."

http://savannahnow.com/sports/2011-06-16/nbas-kwame-brown-gives-back

[Stroupe-a-loop]

I'd be happy to have Kwame back. He's a good guy to have in the rotation, and he seems willing to play whatever role we need. I doubt we get a center that plays better day one in the draft, and I don't think there's much in free agency. I would be happy to have him come back for a reasonable raise (1.5/2 million)

[bes628]

Wait did we re-sign him ?

[pantherfan49]

Wait did we re-sign him ?

No.

But MJ has really ever let one guy walk and that was Felton. Kwame will be made an offer.

[BOBCATS_BALL!]

No.

But MJ has really ever let one guy walk and that was Felton. Kwame will be made an offer.

Felton was given offers, he was given one in the summer before he left and then one again for the season.

Yet he decided to walk.

[pantherfan49]

Felton was given offers, he was given one in the summer before he left and then one again for the season.

Yet he decided to walk.

He was given one the summer before he hit FA. Last year he wasn't given a competitive offer.

Felton is no longer a Bobcat because the Bobs ran out of salary space to sign him.

[Panthers128]

I like Brown. He seems like a hard worker (just look at his frame) and he also seems like a good person. I think MJ did a good job drafting him in Washington. Fact is it was a weak draft and I'd rather have Brown than Eddy Curry or Tyson Chandler. You guys can say what you want about Chandler but he was nothing but a lazy quitter for the Bobcats who apparently thought he was too good to put effort into playing for them. Eddy Curry isn't in the NBA anymore to the best of my knowledge and he was lazy and had lots of personal issues.

Kwame has small hands and basketball doesn't seem to come naturally to him but he works hard and has a positive attitude. That's all you can really ask for out of a player.