The city's least favorite son returned to MCI Center last night, and Kwame Brown expected more of Washington.

Brown, the former No. 1 pick for the Washington Wizards who was practically booed out of town after his fourth less-than-inspiring season, said he had expected "the Juwan Howard treatment" -- as in the deafening sound of boos once reserved for Howard, who was unable to live up to lofty expectations after signing a $100 million contract and, ironically, also wore the No. 5 for Washington.

Instead, Brown said the reception paled in comparison to what he had seen before. "That was weak!" Brown said after he was lustily booed for most of the 19 minutes 49 seconds he spent on the floor during the Los Angeles Lakers' 94-91 loss to the Wizards. "It was worse than that when I was here."