Feel Good, Elton

We could be heading toward a nice end-of-year story for the other team in the City of Angels.

Despite the fact that the Clippers are hopelessly out of the playoff picture, and despite the fact that there isn't a major incentive for their star to come back from a season-long injury, that is exactly what Elton Brand is trying to do.

From the LA Daily News:

Only nine Clipper games remain, but expect to see Elton Brand in a few of those.

Brand and his ruptured Achilles tendon have been medically cleared to play.

The holdup is that he hasn't had enough practice time to get back into the flow of NBA basketball, but he will definitely play soon.

"That's the plan," Brand said Saturday. "We're looking at the last six to eight games. We're trying to gauge it. But we'll have a better feel for it on Monday."

"If I'm healthy, I want to play," Brand said. "It's not in my protocol to shut it down."

Cool.

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What's cool is to see a team without it's lottery position definitively set looking to actually do its fans a favor and actually looking to get its star on the floor.  In today's lottery-centric NBA, the Clips have no impetus to get Brand out there.  All he can do is aggravate the injury in a season that is already a lost cause.

On Brand's end, that he is interested in coming back to play for this putrid team this season is only further proof of his willingness to work hard and his true love for the game.

Here's hoping those fans in LA get a real treat when number 42 returns to the floor.