dear kwame,
please forgive this fanatical letter
but i am a laker fanatic
it's an insanity i allow myself

i am writing you this open letter as a fan and a fellow human being.
i know that you are a man of reasonable intelligence
and a man of considerable emotional depth
so i write this letter, leaving none of my thoughts dormant
hoping that i can be of some inspiration to you

being a devoutly loyal laker fan
i watch nearly every laker game all season long
and have done so for several years
when i heard word of you coming to the lakers in exchange for caron
butler and chucky atkins
i was excited and pleased
i was gonna miss caron, but understood that the lakers had a stockload
of players at his position, his size
and needed to correct that imbalance
i really saw this move as a great opportunity for you to get a fresh
start and show what you were really capable of
and bring the lakers up

it must have been weird going from high school straight to the
wizards and being yelled at by michael jordan
after all, you were just a youngster and learning the professional game
and it must have been a whirlwind of strangeness, just making that
transition from being a boy to being a man, and having to deal with all
that pressure, and having it play out in the public eye
i can only try to imagine what it was like
god knows it probably would have driven me crazy
i would probably have said and done crazy things
or even withdrawn and shut down and stopped myself from growing the way
i was capable of
so anyways, i thought that it would be great for you to get away from
d.c. and get a fresh start
especially with phil jackson around, whom i perceive as a thoughtful
and kind man
i compared your situation to jermaine oneal's, who didn't do so great
in portland
and was there for 4 years just like you in d.c. but then got a fresh
start with the pacers and really blossomed

so here we are nearly half way through your first season in los angeles
my hometown, on my beloved lakers
and you still are not playing close to the way you are capable of
playing
there are those people in l.a. and around the country who just
don't think you are capable of playing at a higher level
that this is all you've got
and if there are a percentage of people who think that
i bet you even think it sometime
or even worse, maybe you have fallen into a rut
maybe it is depressing to have bad games and you have given up on
reaching for that highest part of yourself
that part that you get in touch with sometimes when you show flashes of
the greatness within you

those people who think that you are not better than you are playing now
are wrong
if you think it you are wrong
you are as great as you want to be
you could be one of the great power forwards to play in the nba
you can turn it around
you are young there is plenty of time
you only live this life once
and you cannot leave the greatness within you unexpressed
it would be a disservice to the universe
unless of course you know in your heart that you would rather be doing
something else and you are only in the nba for the cash
in which case you should go do that other thing
because you do only get to live this life once
and it is a crying shame when people leave their song unsung
but to the pedestrian fan like myself
it sure seems like you were born to tear it up on the hoop
court

i know that for myself
there have been many times in my life when i was so down
anxiety ridden and confused
that i was not nearly as great at being who i am
or feeling the joy and love and opportunity of each day
not even reaching in the right direction to get on the righteous path
not even capable of trying
because i was lost
barking up the wrong tree
hurting inside

it took me a while to get to it
but i found ways to get back to feeling great and doing my best
i developed a spiritual practice
i went to a therapist and worked on emotional issues
that had been messing with me all my life
sometimes i would feel so lousy
i didn't even know what was bothering me
i tried hard to figure it out
and i got help from god and from smart people
and i let go of years of stuff that was slowing me down
i'm far from perfect but i am a lot better and still working on it
i am a happy man

now i ask you please not to take offense at this kwame
i do not pass judgement
but it seems to me that something is troubling you
and keeping you from your own greatness
and you need to work it out

i see you not try sometimes
i see you not go for the rebound sometimes
i see you not get back on defense sometimes
i see you not help out on defense sometimes

and once in a while i see you block a shot get an awesome rebound and
explode to the hoop like a genius and put the ball in the hole with
great gusto

i know that you could be great all the time
do what it takes to make your mind clear and your heart free
therapy
meditation
whatever you can do to help yourself
so you can give your all
do it
start now

i know you want the respect that comes with being great at what you do

kwame brown could be a hero in this town
the x factor that brings the lakers a championship

dont leave your sung unsung

your friend,
flea