Elton Brand & The Controversy

[LSanders]

I'd never heard of Jennifer Taylor or the infamous email exchange. After locating it online and reading it, I was deeply offended. I can only imagine what ran through Elton's mind.

She stated that because of Elton's decision to leave early he "clearly did not belong at Duke in the first place." She concluded by stating that "you (Elton) will never be considered part of the Duke family."

Aside from Jennifer's regrettable disdain for grammar, such comments are loathsome and have no place within the REAL Duke family.

I remembered Dick Weiss' profile of Elton in his book, "True Blue." In it, Weiss writes that Daisy Brand raised Elton and his older brother, Artie, by herself in the Dunbar Heights low-income housing section of Peekskill, New York. To keep her son out of trouble and harm's way, she enrolled him in Boy Scouts and tae kwon do classes.

The decision to leave Duke was not easy for Elton. He would be the first of K's players to jump to the NBA, but he knew the money would enable him to ensure that his family also found its way out of Dunbar Heights. He went to the League with Coach K's blessing and one request: "Make us proud." He has. Both as a player and as a man.

In an apparent attempt to further justify Jalen Rose's it's-all-about-me comments regarding Duke players, he tweeted links to the alleged Brand-Taylor email exchange. I'm not sure which I find more repugnant, Rose's "Uncle Tom" comments or his low-class attempt to drag Elton into the muck with him. Jalen, I got news for you. Elton can't reach that low.

I'll conclude by stating that I do have a framed Duke diploma displayed on my wall, and I proudly claim Elton part of my Duke family. As for Jennifer ... Perhaps "you do not realize the opportunity you has infront of you [sic] ..." You do not speak for the rest of us, and, perhaps, next time, it would be best if you do not speak or write at all.

[pfrduke]

I appreciate that this is a new story for some posters, but we've been over it many times here, and this is neither the time nor place to dredge it up again.