Article provided by Kenny Masenda, check him out at kennymasenda.blogspot.com
Elton Brand is a disgrace to the basketball race. Thing is I don’t even hate, and never have hated, Elton Brand. Despite the fact that he is a Blue Devil, I’ve always respected his demeanor, and his play, but after this latest act, ALL that has gone out of the window.
See, in my world, LOYALTY counts for something. Granted, one of the teams in question is the Los Angeles Clippers, who aren’t exactly the definition of that, but they did everything in their power to convince Brand to stick around and try to get back to the 2006 version of the Clippers (the team that was one win away from the Western Conference Finals), but greed reared its ugly head, and Elton Brand took the bait, and for that, I can’t let him make it.
The people who defend his decision will say Philly offered more money. So what? They’ll also say Philly has a better chance of contending than the Clippers. While that MIGHT be true, I honestly don’t see them doing that much better, unless they are able to get another shooter, and if they could get Josh Smith. Only then will I buy that talk about them being a legitimate contender.
Last week, he said “It was my intention to stay” in Los Angeles, so what do the Clippers do?? They go sign BARON DAVIS!!!! If that’s not showing you they are serious about winning, then I don’t know what the hell is. I know I shouldn’t expect all athletes to keep their word, especially when people start tossing dollars in their faces, but I thought Elton Brand was different, but alas, I was wrong. He’s no different than the majority of these cats who will chase paper, as opposed to keeping their word. It’s a damn…shame. The only time it’s excusable, in my opinion, to change your mind solely because of money, is in football, because those contracts aren’t guaranteed, so you have to get all the paper you can, while you can.
As a fan of the game, and someone who takes loyalty seriously, I don’t hate Elton Brand; I just really, really, really don’t like him right now.
Be easy.
Comments
4 Responses to "Benedict Brand"I just read your rant on Brand, and I completely agree with everything you said. However, we all had to see this coming, right? Isn't this the same Elton Brand who tried to flee for Miami in 2003? He only remained a Clipper then because he was a restricted free-agent and the Red-Headed Step Children of Los Angeles matched the offer. He'll be wanting to leave Philly after he balls his fourth year (what I think will be an option year for him) and other teams offer him better contracts. What do you expect from ex-Dukies? They'll either be bums or unloyal.
I don't pretend to know much about the situation, but Brand was on PTI today and he said that the Clippers brass was somewhat disrespectful to him and his agent. He stated the he asked for certain things and the Clipper reps basically told him they would not change the deal they offered to him, they were not going to speak with the owner, for him to "take it or leave it." This deal was almost $20 million less than the Sixer offer. After agreeing in principle to the Sixer offer, he says that the Clippers offered to open up negotiations again but he told them it was too late.
Again...I know this is only HIS side of the story, but IF thats how it went down...I don't blame Brand a bit!!!
The fact of the matter is this, baron wouldn't have thought about signing with the clippers if he didn't think brand was gonna be there. second, brand didn't even try and negotiate with the clips even if he did a bigger deal from philly.
the trend is pay 3 dudes major money and build with role players afterwards. look at boston, KG gets #1 money, pierce gets #2 money, and ray gets #3 money. same with LA, Kobe, Gasol, and Odom. What's Philly gonna do really? Brand's getting #1 money at $16M, Iguodala gets #2 money at $70M, and then Dalembert (?) gets #3 money at $10M per year? And your most important player is ANDRE MILLER! Boston, Detroit, Orlando, Toronto, and Washington are all still better than Philly right now. Plus Miami is definitely gonna be better. Atlanta's got a strong core, and Milwaukee's better with Richard Jefferson. Right now they are a #7 seed with no cap room.
If he stays with the Clippers, they have more depth, and overall better players with Kaman, Baron, Tim Thomas, and Cat Mobley. Plus Al Thornton, Eric Gordon, and Deandre Jordan, they were way more poised to be a 4-5 seed. Phoenix is down, Dallas is down, Houston is fatally flawed, as is Denver and G-State. I dunno, if LAC gets Emeka Okafor, for less money too ($60M maybe) I'd say they better without Brand. Just Ed's personal opinion.
-Ed.
Doesn't Baron know that you're supposed to use the Clips for leverage and not actually sign with them? LOL
I think Brand went into this thing with the best intentions but when the moment comes when you have to turn down $20 mil, he found out that it's an extremely difficult thing to to. We all say that we're going to be loyal to our girlfriends but if a spot on Halle lookalike shows up at our door in nothing but a robe, that's the ultimate in being put to the test!
It makes what Garnett and others did even more amazing when you note that most of us are not able to follow through.
If you had a handshake deal with your employer to stay another year but another company offered to double your pay for the same job...
If Brand gave his word to Baron and Dunleavy and then went back on it, then he's wrong. However, I won't throw stones because I've never been a position of having people offer me mega millions for my services, (much to my dismay and chagrin) lol
JAG
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