(NOTE: This article was written when Brown was 24 years old)

Strengths:

At 7’0” or very close to 7’0”, Kwame Brown has excellent size for the center position or the power forward position if he is needed to play there. Brown possesses an excellent frame but what makes it especially impressive is the physical tools that are combined with it—Brown possesses great mobility and good athleticism for a big man, and he often uses his build and tools to make an impact defensively. Most big men lack the tools that Brown has, and that was what made him overhyped in the first place.

Brown’s best asset currently is his position defense. Brown often keeps his body rigid and has the lateral quickness to move step by step with the man he is defending, cutting off lanes of comfort and eventually putting them into tough shooting positions if they choose to do so. Brown is capable of forcing even star matchups into shooting off-nights, such as holding Kevin Garnett to 4-14 shooting. Because he can cut off the lanes to the basket, Brown can also force overaggressive big men into travels as well.  He is not an intimidator or shotblocker but he often sticks with hand up to contest shots, besides bodying up his man. In his years with Washington Brown also proved to basically non foul-prone in playing defense as well.

Brown is also a very good rebounder. He has had his share of double-digit rebounding games during the Lakers’ season, and he primarily does his work on the offensive glass. Brown positions his body well to box-out his man and his athleticism and mobility also help him in this area. Brown has a nose for offensive rebounds and is capable of scoring points off them as well, whether by catching the disoriented defense by surprise or by securing the simple two points off a layup or short shot.

On offense, Brown thrives best closer to the basket. He can show some flashes of brilliance at times by scoring on the block or around the basket whether by layups or dunks, and is capable of making aggressive moves towards the basket, which may show why he was highly touted in the past. In general, Brown primarily scores off of garbage buckets, whether through offensive rebounds, good passes by his teammates or through his own “flashes of brilliance”. In transition, Brown can definitely run the floor well and has shown some ability to be the recipient of passes for dunks. Brown has shown some touch at times and may pull up for a mid-range jumpshot from time to time.

Brown is an unselfish player, displaying some brilliance in his high-post passing at times such as when he had 5 assists against the Suns in the playoffs. He seems to have recognized his role as the defensive center for the Lakers and is willing to relinquish his own shots.

Having been hyped and lauded by the media after his senior year in high school, Kwame has always had the potential to become a bonafide star in the NBA. Although some of that may be lost, he has at least found a niche with the Lakers as a defensive specialist, which may be one step of the way to get him to recognize parts of his lost potential.  Laker Coach Phil Jackson was patient with Brown and helped him learn from his mistakes as well.

Weaknesses:

Brown’s weaknesses are mostly mental problems, such as lack of confidence, which have stymied him from making his impact with the Washington Wizards. However, that improved over the course of the season as his minutes and his confidence grew.

Brown’s major weakness is his offense. His offensive game is poor and may even be worse than his tenure with the Wizards. Brown showed little touch in his jumpshot this season, and most of his mid-range shots turned out not only to be misses, but also bricks that hit too hard or off the side of the rim. Brown may be prone to taking too many jumpshots for his own good at times as well. He tends to rush his jumpshot and needs more patience in shooting it. Brown’s lack of touch is especially evident from the charity stripe, where he shot a dismal 55%. That improved over the course of the season however, and he did start to show some touch, but early on he was even around 46% from the stripe. However, to his credit, Brown shot 71% from the stripe in the playoffs (the ultimate product of his confidence).

Brown’s field goal percentage may be deceiving at times as well; he shoots 52%, but he takes a lot of shots near the basket and he still can be prone to missing chippies or layups, not showing the best touch in them either. Brown’s offensive decision-making is not the best as well, and he isn’t one to really exploit any opportunities offensively regarding his matchups. His offensive moves are rather predictable and sometimes mechanical, and defenders may easily adjust to it.

A problem that Brown has, especially during the early part of the season, was catching passes. Brown’s hands are extremely small and defenses can easily stop him from effectively catching the ball at times, leading to turnovers. This may stem from Brown’s lack of awareness or concentration which may be problems residing from his younger years, although it is mostly the problem of his hands. Brown also has a slow gather time and may expose and fumble the ball trying to bring it up, leading to more turnovers. However, he improved on this over the course of the season and his turnover amounts became okay at the end. Brown doesn’t have good ballhandling skills and thus does not put the ball on the floor.

Brown is not an intimidator on defense and despite the fact that he still can contain his individual matchups down, he is not much of an off-the-ball defender. Brown possesses a tendency to stick with his man and does not fare well guarding smaller and quicker matchups. Brown can leave the painted area to guard players but his quickness and athleticism defensively simply do not match those of offensive-oriented and quicker wing players. Regarding defense, Brown was somewhat foul prone early in the season but definitely improved as the season progressed.

Brown has proven that he cannot play power forward sufficiently, as early this season he did not fare well playing that position. Only when he played center did he thrive and start taking away fellow big man Chris Mihm’s minutes.

Brown never lived up to expectations, has been labeled as a “bust’ and has been overly criticized by many NBA people. Brown’s work ethic and mentality have been repeatedly questioned, and although he still shows sparks of it at times, it looks like it has generally improved this season with the Lakers. Brown is one of the most infamous busts in regards to the #1 pick to the effect that most people do not notice the improvement of his game and rather focus on his plethora of negatives. Brown is still somewhat of a prospect with a semi-raw game, but ultimately seems to need patience, confidence and trust to thrive.