Kwame Brown calls Jordan story, other rumors 'misinformation'

Kwame Brown is far from the only No. 1 NBA draft pick to be considered a bust. Yet names like Anthony Bennett and Andrea Bargnani were not selected at the request of Michael Jordan, or came with stories of supposed humiliation at the hands of His Airness.

Brown, however, in an attempt to set the record straight, says many stories about him are fake news.

"There was a report that Michael Jordan would make me cry in front of the team," Brown told HoopsHype's Alex Kennedy. "A guy who grew up like I grew up don't really cry much. The report about him calling me a homophobic slur isn't true."

The rumor, floated around for years, suggested that Washington Wizards teammate Jordan would torment Brown - the first pick in the 2001 draft - to the point where he'd shed tears in practice. The big man, who last played in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2013, added that several other reports about him are untrue.

"A friend showed me that if you search for my full name on the internet, it said my name is Kwame James Brown. My middle name is Hasani," he said. "There's so much misinformation out there that they can't even get a name right."

On Brown's Basketball-Reference page, his middle name is listed as James.

Brown, who came straight out of high school to the Wizards in 2001, went as far as to say that criticism of him was in part due to a rule the NBA adopted five years later.

"I think the league wants to justify the one-and-done rule," he said. "They act like, somehow, it's better for a kid to go to college for four months and be a one-and-done player rather than going straight to the NBA. I think they've made me the poster child for why players shouldn't go straight to the NBA from high school."

Commissioner Adam Silver conceded recently that the one-and-done rule needs revisiting.

Brown's best NBA season came with the Wizards in 2003-04, when he averaged 10.9 points and 7.4 rebounds. However, injuries and inconsistency limited him for the rest of his career. Now 35, he's planning to play in the BIG3 league this summer.