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david
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Post subject: Surgeon helped seal deal with Brand
 Posted: Jul 10, 2008 - 04:41 AM PST
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Site Admin
Joined: Apr 13, 2001
Posts: 2277
Location: Austin, TX
  
votes: 14
Status: Offline
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It was the surgeon- he was the one behind it all along!  Maybe Brand had an under-the-table deal with Philly all this time.... Tampering- anyone?
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Maybe the 76ers' official courtship of Elton Brand began last August, when Brand showed up at the Wilmington office of orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Craig Morgan to have his ruptured Achilles' tendon repaired.
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Brand was sitting in the waiting room when Morgan came out to greet him. The first thing he told Brand was: "You know, Elton, this has Philadelphia written all over it."
That didn't become official until Wednesday, when Brand signed a five-year contract worth about $82 million.
In between, Morgan said he constantly reminded Brand about the virtues of Philadelphia and Wilmington. Brand said Morgan's staff kept imploring him to play for the 76ers, too.
The final plea came last Thursday, when the 76ers had Morgan perform MRIs on both of Brand's knees and his ankles. Morgan had operated on Brand's meniscus in September 2002.
"They're huge fans," Brand said of Morgan and his staff. "This is their home team, and they love it."
Added Morgan: "I just told him that in the last several years, the one thing the Sixers have been missing is a power forward and he's one of the best. But a lot of pieces to the puzzle had to fall together just right for this to happen."
Some of those pieces involved Morgan.
Brand was first recommended to Morgan six years ago for his knee surgery by Brand's agent, David Falk.
Falk knew about Morgan because he had repaired the knee of Kerry Kittles, who was another of Falk's clients, a few years earlier.
Kittles, a former Villanova product, was playing for the New Jersey Nets at the time, and he had several previous arthroscopic surgeries with other doctors. None of them worked. Then he went to see Morgan on a recommendation from the Nets' team doctor.
Kittles played for three more years before another knee injury ultimately ended his career.
Brand went back to Morgan last summer for his Achilles surgery. Brand played the final eight games last season.
The work that Brand put in to return, however, is easily overlooked. Morgan has him stretching twice a day, every day, whether it's during the season or not, to strengthen his calf muscles and keep him flexible.
"It's actually better than what it was before because of what Dr. Morgan did," Brand said. "It's a very tedious task, but it became religion. I wanted to be flexible. I did not want to get hurt again. It's funny, because you're a pro athlete and you kind of think you're invincible."
During those rehab sessions, which often began at 6 a.m., and during the constant checkups, Morgan said he got the sense that Brand wanted to play for a winning team, preferably on the East Coast.
Brand grew up in Peekskill, N.Y., a suburb of New York City, and played college basketball at Duke. During his nine NBA seasons, Brand made it to the playoffs just once.
"Everyone talks about the money, but Elton is not your typical basketball player," Morgan said. "He wants to play for a winner. He's also very intelligent and family-oriented. Every time he would come to my office, he would then go to New York to visit his mom."
Brand did this again last Thursday, when the 76ers put on the fullcourt press, as did Morgan and his staff.
Morgan said he didn't have to remind Brand to keep stretching.
"For $82 million, I don't think that's too much to ask," Morgan said with a laugh.
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs ... 002/SPORTS |
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Post subject: RE: Surgeon helped seal deal with Brand
Posted: Jul 10, 2008 - 04:49 AM PST
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Clipper Starter
Joined: Jun 04, 2008
Posts: 493
Location: Los Angeles
votes: 8
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| And notice Kittles' knee was fine until we traded for him. This conspiracy has been in place since '04! Curse you, Dr. Morgan! |
_________________
Knock on wood!
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JamFan
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Post subject: RE: Surgeon helped seal deal with Brand
Posted: Jul 10, 2008 - 10:38 AM PST
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Clipper All-Star
Joined: Jul 26, 2005
Posts: 1061
votes: 13
Status: Offline
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| Elton Brand better start thinking about something called karma. When your karma is good, good things happen to you. When your karma is bad, bad things happen to you. Elton's karma just might be a little on the bad side right now. His injury is ok for the moment, but........... |
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