He Said/He Said

The Los Angeles Clippers, most notably coach Mike Dunleavy will not let the Elton Brand saga go. It is being reported by ESPN that Dunleavy is very upset with David Falk, Brand's agent for influencing him to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers. And he is also upset with Elton as he feels he was betrayed, and that they had a verbal agreement that Brand would be back with the Clippers next year to team with Baron Davis. Let it be a side note that if in fact Dunleavy was talking to Brand about contract terms while he had a registered representative that he was violating the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement.

But to have an NBA team call out a player for disloyalty is in fact a joke in itself. Although Elton Brand is the exception to your typical go broke after his career , as he has many business ventures outside of basketball, the peak period of a pro athletes earning potential is limited to a short window. Professional sports teams will cut, and release a player with no afterthought as to where the players will end up next. The Clippers just renounced their rights to 5 of their players to create cap space. There is big chance that 1 or more of these players will NOT catch on elsewhere and have to find other means of making a living. So Mike Dunleavy and the Clippers can spare us all the boo-hooing about how Elton Brand misled them.

Due to the Los Angeles Clippers poor track record of low-balling players on contracts, it is not out of the realm of possibility that when David Falk says that the Clippers came to the table with their lowest offer, then I am more apt to believe what he says as opposed to a team that has let star player after star player go because they did not want to pony up the funds. It also comes down to having a better chance to succeed, and if the team you are playing for has a game plan. I am sure the years of losing has affected the psyche of Brand over the years. He is a competitive player who shows he wants to win when he gets on the court. He has proven himself to be a valuable commodity, and anyone who is on the business of producing results wants to be compensated properly for their contributions. The Philadelphia 76ers are a team on the rise, and are looking to build a franchise, and put a competitive product on the court.

So as Baron Davis stated in his press conference yesterday as he was announced as the newest LA Clipper, he had no hard feelings against Brand, and that the will remain friends. Because ultimately he wanted to play with the Brand than without him, but in the end it is all about business, and he understands that. The simple human nature is this when it comes to money-The more you have the more you want of it, so I give kudos to Brand, and Davis for going and getting their paychecks, because at the end of the day that is what 95% of the people in their situations would have done, and if you say no you wouldn't, then you have never had $79.8 million dangled in your face. And to those who would say it was ALL about the money with Brand, he did not sign with the Golden State Warriors who offered him $90 million reasons to sign with them.

J.A. Adande's Take