#21 – Elton BrandElton recently spurned a longtime shoe deal with a much larger company to sign with Converse, where he’ll establish a signature line. The first installment’s a discreet design, like a sedated pair of Nike Forces, which will exclusively retail for a modest 90 bucks at a department store chain. It’ll be a shoe without the ego and flashy ad campaign; one that simply gets the job done. Kind of appropriate since that’s what Elton’s been doing his whole career.
He burst onto the scene in ‘99-00, sharing ROY honors with some dude named Steve Francis. He dropped the 20 and 10 he’s consistently put up ever since, establishing himself as a monster on both sides of the ball who’s also swatted 2 shots/game over his career. He’s never developed his game much because he frankly didn’t have much need to; he came into the league as ready as anyone could’ve been. You hardly ever hear about the guy because he’s played on some absolutely horrendous teams over the years, but he’s shown up, given his all and never complained to the media, demanded trades or hardly raised an eyebrow, just waited for an out.
That out finally came this summer when Brand became an unrestricted free agent and the prize catch of an otherwise shallow offseason. Rather than re-up with the Clippers, even after their acquisition of Baron Davis, Elton crossed the country to Philadelphia, where he’ll address the team’s desperate need for a low-post scoring threat and (likely) instantly vault them into the Conference’s elite tier. The promise shown by the young team he’ll lead exceeds anything ever exhibited by his surroundings in LA and Chicago. Brand could, for the first time his career, have a legitimate shot at the Finals; his chance to perform under the bright lights on the NBA’s biggest stage. And after struggling on so many sub-par teams all these years, just like when he came out of college, no one’s more ready than he is.
He burst onto the scene in ‘99-00, sharing ROY honors with some dude named Steve Francis. He dropped the 20 and 10 he’s consistently put up ever since, establishing himself as a monster on both sides of the ball who’s also swatted 2 shots/game over his career. He’s never developed his game much because he frankly didn’t have much need to; he came into the league as ready as anyone could’ve been. You hardly ever hear about the guy because he’s played on some absolutely horrendous teams over the years, but he’s shown up, given his all and never complained to the media, demanded trades or hardly raised an eyebrow, just waited for an out.
That out finally came this summer when Brand became an unrestricted free agent and the prize catch of an otherwise shallow offseason. Rather than re-up with the Clippers, even after their acquisition of Baron Davis, Elton crossed the country to Philadelphia, where he’ll address the team’s desperate need for a low-post scoring threat and (likely) instantly vault them into the Conference’s elite tier. The promise shown by the young team he’ll lead exceeds anything ever exhibited by his surroundings in LA and Chicago. Brand could, for the first time his career, have a legitimate shot at the Finals; his chance to perform under the bright lights on the NBA’s biggest stage. And after struggling on so many sub-par teams all these years, just like when he came out of college, no one’s more ready than he is.
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