Elton Brand announced his retirement from the NBA on Monday after a great 16 year career in the league. Brand spent his last two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks and didn't get much playing time so he decided to call it a career to spend time with his family. Although Brand said he is retiring from the NBA he did somewhat leave it open for a potential return according to Al Coqueran of The Examiner News.
Brand is officially a free agent after he played last season with the Hawks on a one year $2 million deal. Brand is now 36 years old and thinks he could still play.
"I could get in shape if I got the call but this looks like the end of the run for me, right now it is family time," said Brand.
That statement is somewhat vague as it could mean a few different things. It seems as though Brand wasn't planning to retire but once he hit free agency he wasn't getting the calls he was hoping for from teams to be able to sign another contract. Brand's comments make it seem like if he does get the call he will at least consider coming back and he definitely thinks he could do it. Having said that though, it seems as though Brand is more than okay with retiring after a long and successful career in the NBA.
Brand was the first overall pick back in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls after playing for two years at Duke University. In his rookie season Brand shared the Rookie of the Year Award with Steve Francis when he averaged 20.1 points and 10 rebounds per game. Brand ended up playing for five different teams in his 16 years and was a two-time All-Star. At just 6 foot-8 Brand was undersized for a guy that played some center but was always able to hold his own.
Brand might not have been the superstar or all-time great player that number one overall picks are expected to be but he had himself a very good career. Brand retires with career averages of 16.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.
