Staff Blog
Why I Don’t Believe Elton Brand is Injured
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Last night Elton Brand finished 1-7 from the field for 3
points in just 25 minutes. After he left
with 4:48 remaining in the 3rd he spent the rest of the game
watching from the sideline. Postgame the
76ers announced that he had strained his right hamstring and was listed as
day-to-day. I think it’s plausible
that’s all bullshit.
ATJ, I’ll explain why.
Here are facts
- Elton Brand, on the wrong end of a back-to-back had the
worst game of his season. Aside from the
poor shooting Brand wasn’t awful – three offensive boards, two steals and a
block. He was ineffective on offense,
but not entirely unenthused. While he
was playing he looked bad, but didn’t look hurt. Which makes sense, official word is that he
hurt himself during the game. - With about five minutes remaining in the third Brand was removed from the game and
didn’t return. During those final
seventeen minutes of gametime EB remained
on the bench. He didn’t go to the locker
room for treatment, nor did a trainer stretch him out on the sideline. - When a player is injured mid-game it is standard practice
for the team to inform the press. Either
an announcement or a release will be given, as well an expected ETA. These are often bland (i.e. ‘Brand experiencing pain in his leg,
getting checked out.) This was not given. - Postgame, with several ‘Brand played awful’ stories already
written, there was still no official no release prepared, nor no immediate
statement given. Coach Cheeks responded
to a question about his absence by explaining he was hurt. - Media waited and waited and waited for Brand to emerge. Brand usually never stands up media, hs
friendly and cordial. He’s available
quickly and never seems upset about taking questions, he knows it’s part of the
job. He’s usually one of, if not the,
first group interview. He never emerged,
the team reported he was getting treatment. - The official injury, a strained muscle in the thigh, is
untestable.
Now here is speculation:
- Elton Brand may hurt,
but I think it’s safe to say he’s not injured, at least not in any long-term
fashion. A “Elton Brand strains hamstring,
listed as day-to-day” story is a non-starter.
He’ll play Friday, and everyone seems to know it. - May best guess is that Brand and Cheeks disagreed over
something. Maybe it was the extent of
the injury, maybe it was game calling, maybe it was playing time. Whatever it was, it caused the Sixers to
scramble. During the game they didn’t
make an announcement because they didn’t think they had an announcement to
make. After the game, when they found
out they did, they panicked and created a story that is true enough. After all, EB is a pro basketball player coming off back-to-back games. He certainly hurt. - Still, I just know if EB and the Sixers weren’t on the same
page postgame, but wanted to keep the issue in-house, they would have acted
exactly the way they did last night.
Now I’m not outright accusing anyone of anything, I’m just
suggesting that it may be prudent to keep an eye on the relationship between
the Sixers and their $80 million dollar power forward as the season moves
along. Something confusing happened last night, and I think it’s worth looking at twice.
This isn’t a crisis, not by any
means, but it might be a warning sign – I thought I should probably get it on the record.
