Michael Jordan‘s latest move of him selling his majority ownership position in the Charlotte Hornets was a rather unprecedented one. The team had an underwhelming record while he owned it. Even his former friend, Charles Barkley, once criticized Jordan for his poor ownership skills while they were still friends. The duo hasn’t spoken since then as Jordan couldn’t handle the betrayal coming from one of his best friends. However, Jordan was ultimately successful, earning an estimated $3 billion from the sale of the franchise’s majority interest, which he bought in 2010.

Jordan is now among the most commercially successful sports stars because of this outstanding accomplishment. Although his tenure as an owner garnered heavy criticism, this wasn’t his first time being criticized for his ownership skills. He also received harsh criticism for a draft decision he made while he was the team president of the Washington Wizards. However, he now has an NBA veteran taking his side for the contentious decision he made in 2001.

An NBA Veteran comes to Jordan’s defense

The NBA was abuzz with excitement in the summer of 2001 as Kwame Brown, a physically talented young prodigy, made his professional debut as the top pick in the draft. Scouts and analysts compared him to renowned power forwards like Karl Malone and Chris Webber. Brown entered high school with a physique that was NBA-caliber, but it soon became clear that he lacked the mental fortitude, drive and competitiveness needed to advance. Thus, despite his athletic prowess, Brown found it difficult to live up to the expectations set for him.

He deteriorated under the strain of playing professional basketball. His limitations, which included inconsistent shooting and defensive shortcomings, were more and more apparent over his career. His draft into the league could easily be one of the NBA’s worst. And who was blamed for it? Michael Jordan.

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Despite being one of the GOATs of the NBA, Jordan received flack for his poor skills as a scout. Now, Gilbert Arenas recently appeared in an interview where he justified why Jordan shouldn’t be blamed for his decision to draft Kwame Brown. Gil appeared in an episode of VladTV’s podcast where he stepped into Jordan’s shoes to look at things from his perspective.

He said, “I got Kwame Brown, right? Now, let’s rewind it. Who was I going to pick now? Right? Am I going to pick Tyson Chandler? Yeah, he had 20 years, but he was never a star. Do I take that with the No. 1 pick? Probably not. Eddy Curry? Probably not. Gasol – ding ding ding – but was Gasol even considered the No. 1 pick? No.”

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Gilbert wasn’t done here. He said, “Say I don’t have the best infrastructure on building the talent, I can live with that, but don’t say you know I’m the worst GM because of the picks.”

Gil then addressed the criticism that Jordan received for his decision to draft Kwame Brown. He said, “When you’re judging me, are you judging it fair? And if you’re not judging it fair then it’s, yeah, fu** you!”