Elton Brand

Brand shared the 2000 NBA Rookie of the Year Award with Steve Francis — the only co-Rookie of the Year in modern NBA history — a split that fans have debated for decades given how different their career trajectories became.

His Achilles tear in October 2007, suffered just before the season opener, remains the most painful moment in pre-Lob City Clippers history — an injury that robbed both Brand and the franchise of what should have been a prime playoff push.

Brand later became the General Manager of the Philadelphia 76ers and has remained involved in NBA front offices — a career pivot that reflects the same basketball intelligence that made him effective as a player.

He grew up in Cortlandt Manor, New York, less than 45 miles from New York City — but his path to Duke and the NBA took him on a uniquely national journey for a New York-area player of his generation.