Former first overall pick Elton Brand has officially retired

Many of you youngsters may not remember, but Elton Brand was one of the top power forwards back in his day. Brand, who was the first overall pick in 1999, was supposed to be the Chicago Bulls’ saviour after the Jordan era ended. However, even though Brand played well for the team (20.1 points, 10 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game over two seasons), he wasn’t what they were looking for. After two incredible seasons, the Bulls traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers, and this is where he started to shine.

In his first year as a Clipper, he was selected to be part of the Western Conference All-Star team, the first Clipper to do so since Danny Manning in 1994. He was selected to participate again in 2006, but this wasn’t the only good thing that happened to him and his team that year. After a 13 year playoff drought, Brand, along with his teammates, brought the Clippers back to the glory land. They decisively beat their first round opponents (Denver Nuggets) four games to one, and fought in a tough loss in the second round against the “Nash Era” Phoenix Suns (3-4).

Brand continued to play well (20.3 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 2.7 apg, and 2.3 bpg in 7 seasons with Clippers), but the Clippers never made it back to the playoffs. In 2008, he left the team and signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. He played here for four seasons, and made the playoffs twice. Though he played well here, his numbers (13.2 ppg and 7.6 rpg) weren’t as impressive as they were when he played with the Clippers, and so, Philadelphia waived him under the amnesty clause in July of 2012.

That same month, the Dallas Mavericks claimed him off of waivers. He played there for one season, and signed with the Atlanta Hawks the next. He played with the Hawks for two seasons, making the playoffs in both. After his second season with the team, he decided to call it quits. On August 11, 2015, Brand announced that he is retiring. But less than half a year later, in early January 2016, Brand came out of retirement and rejoined the 76ers. Though he couldn’t offer much physically, he was able to offer a lot of mentorship to the young guys on the team, and it was because of this that he wanted to make a return.

Now, as the 2016-17 NBA season is about to commence, Brand has announced that he will be retiring (and this time, it is for good). On Thursday, Brand made the announcement at the Sixers' training complex:

Brand also explained why he felt it was time for him to leave the game. Per Philly.com:

“Me personally, playing, being out there in the mentoring role, it was great,” Brand said. “I enjoyed it, but I really can’t be out there giving my all after 17 years, helping the team, being in the right place on defense and giving the coaching staff the energy that they deserve from their players. So I thought it was time.”

Brand ends his career with averages of 15.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in 1058 games.