Plan on seeing alot of Elton Brand sitting around in a suit this year. The Clippers' perennial All-Star ruptured his left Achilles tendon during a workout at Spectrum Club South Bay.
Surgery and recovery may sideline Brand for most of next season, and if it does, that makes for another Clip Show year with a horrible ending.
Los Angeles Clippers' forward Elton Brand ruptured his left Achilles tendon today during his regular daily workout at Spectrum Club South Bay.Plans for Brand, 28, to undergo surgery to repair the injury are underway, the details of which will be made available by the team as soon as they are finalized. - NBA.com
The 6' 8" power forward from Duke, and heart of the team, averaged over 20 points and 9 boards a game.
At least he'll have time to focus on his film producing. And all will get a chance to see if this exchange in the LA Times was accurate:
Q: What gets you more excited, the opening night of one of your movies or the opening game of the NBA season?Wonder if the Clippers are still interested in Kobe after this fine mess?A: For sure, it's the opening game of the NBA season. Even when I was on location with the movie shooting in Thailand, I had a team trainer, Johan Wang, working with me…. It's funny that some people thought I shot the movie last year, which they pointed to as a reason why I struggled at times last season. But that's not true. I shot the movie two summers ago and then came back and had my best season [a career-high 24.7 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in 2005-06]. Basketball is first with me.
AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian




According to the Mayo Clinic, it would take a normal person about 4-6 months to recover from the surgery. For athletes, it could only take as soon as 3 months depending on how rigorous the therapy is.
Considering he would still need to get into basketball shape, he could probably return to the court around December or January at the earliest.
This still doesn't bode well for the Clip Show. Eek.