From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
An unfortunate coincidence.
That’s the vibe that seemed to fill the Wachovia Center last night after 76ers forward Elton Brand, clutching his dislocated right shoulder, walked off the court midway through the third quarter of a 93-88 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Sixers officials said Brand was undergoing an MRI exam after the game. No timetable on his return was immediately available.
All week, the talk swirling around the Sixers was about whether Brand’s commanding inside presence, bought at the cost of $80 million this off-season, had caused a loss of identity for the young, formerly running-and-gunning team.
When general manager Ed Stefanski fired Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks on Saturday, many wondered if the problem was less Cheeks and more the Sixers’ roster, which did not seem to match its fastbreaking intentions…
Brand had scored four points and grabbed six rebounds when he left the game.
The injury occurred when Bucks forward Luc Mbah a Moute slammed into Brand under Milwaukee’s hoop. Both fell to the court; Mbah a Moute then rolled over Brand, who was whistled for his second foul. At the time of Brand’s injury, the Sixers trailed by seven.
“The way he popped up, I thought he was fine,” said guard Lou Williams, who tied a career high with 25 points. But when Brand walked past the Sixers’ bench, his teammates saw the divot in his right shoulder…
Brand missed two games earlier this month with a strained right hamstring. That was when the initial question surfaced about his impact. Had Brand’s inside game forced the Sixers out of last season’s run-and-gun style, which led to a playoff appearance?
Then there’s this from lowposts.com:
(Mike Dunleavy is in his cigar parlor replaying the Elton Brand injury on his 70-inch plasma screen.)
Dunleavy: Baahahahhaahahaahahahaaaa! Baaaaaaaahaahaaahahahahaha! (catches breath, wipes tear away from eye, rewinds, watches Brand fall again) Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahaha! (checks Pacific Division standings online) Heh. Ahem.. (drinks deeply from brandy snifter, shuts off television, sits in dark, waits for rooster crow to signal sunrise).
UPDATE: Brand received an MRI last night which revealed a fracture of the humeral head (bone) and a tear of the labrum, which was expected with the dislocation. Sixers team physician Dr. Jack McPhilemy does not feel the injury will require surgery at this time. Brand will begin rehabilitation immediately and is expected to be out one month.
