LOS ANGELES — I tried to take a broader scope when analyzing Kwame Brown in my latest column, but here’s a little more from Phil Jackson on Brown …

The gist of what Jackson told Brown in Honolulu at the start of training camp when they sat down for a heart-to-heart in part to discuss Brown’s arrest in Georgia: “This is your season that you have to make it or be just a player.”

Jackson believes Brown is still dogged by the demons of being taken with the No. 1 overall pick in 2001.

“There’s always performance pressure on a guy who has been looked at as the first pick in the draft who has not fulfilled it,” Jackson said. “Those are things that, I’m sure, weigh. And those are the things we want him to get over and say, ‘That happened. That’s done.’ ”

Jackson wants to cross the word “potential” off Brown’s mind and have him just go out and do the most basic things he can: “Right now, it’s reality. Play within what’s real,” Jackson said.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 7:15 pm and is filed under 2007-08, Phil Jackson, Pregame notes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.