Cowens toots Kwame Brown's horn

Dave Cowens raised my eyebrows a little on the Grand Rapids leg of our statewide media tour when he spoke to a group of Pistons corporate partners and fans after a luncheon at DeVos Place.

Cowens got up and told listeners that there was one guy who was going to make the most difference between this year’s team and last year’s. Give up?

Kwame Brown. Cowens said he’s been around the NBA since 1970 and he has seen very few guys as big as Brown who move as fast and under as much control. He said Brown, at roughly 275 and with very little body fat, moves his feet extremely well and will be a major factor defensively and as a rebounder.

Brown came into the league as the No. 1 pick in the 2001 draft and, Cowens said, he’s been set up for failure ever since. He clearly wasn’t ready to meet the expectations of the No. 1 pick right out of high school, he didn’t have much of a support system in place and his confidence got battered early and often.

I know Brown’s history and I know his signing with the Pistons was met with a lot of skepticism. But I also know the people tooting Brown’s horn now. Cowens isn’t given to hyperbole. He’s been very guarded in his comments about the futures of players like Amir Johnson and Cheikh Samb. Michael Curry has been nothing but positive in his early assessments of Brown, too. Joe Dumars, likewise.

After Cowens spoke, I asked Scott Perry about his comments regarding Brown. Perry knows Cowens wouldn’t say what he said unless he believed it.

Brown has struck everyone around the Pistons as being truly grateful for the opportunity presented him here. As Brown said after signing in July, this is the first time in his career where he’s controlled the process and gotten to choose his own situation. He feels not just wanted here, but like he’s in a place where everyone is rooting for him to succeed and – more critically – surrounding him with an environment that will give him every chance to succeed.

Brown, by the way, will be taking a trip Friday on Roundball Two, the Pistons’ team plane. He’ll be chaperoning to Disney World the families of five Make-a-Wish kids as the Pistons continue granting wishes from the Pistons Cares Telethon held last March that raised about $500,000 for the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Michigan, enough to grant 60 wishes.

Two of the families are from the Grand Rapids area and joined the Pistons’ traveling caravan for lunch at DeVos Place.

I’ll check in again tonight after our rally in Traverse City.

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