Elton Brand is heading to the City of Brotherly Love and leaving the City of Angels behind. In the eyes of the Clipper faithful, he will be neither lovely nor angelic after his departure. The once beloved franchise player, heralded as true pro’s pro and stand up guy, may have just dashed that reputation.

Betrayal

Traitor

Two faced

These are some of the words you will hear about Brand. When he opted out of the last year of his deal a few days ago, he commented on his hope that the clippers would be active in the market and that his intention was to stay. LA responded by immediately getting Baron Davis to opt out of the last year of his deal in Golden State worth over $17 million in order to accept a deal to play in his hometown alongside Brand. The team then assumed Brand would act on his word and take a deal worth $70 million that was on the table.

The Warriors, after watching their own franchise player leave town unexpectedly, threw themselves into the mix by offering a $90 million deal of their own. Philly was interested in Atlanta’s Josh Smith, but saw an opening with Brand and made a deal with Minnesota to clear more cap room for an offer. The Clippers reportedly were willing to sweeten the deal for Elton, offering as much as $80 million. Brand suddenly had a decision to make.

Tuesday evening, it appeared as if Elton Brand was going to accept the offer from the Sixers for $82 million. So is Brand now a traitor? Or is this just the nature of the business? It depends on your viewpoint.

The NBA is a business. Players in this day and age are more individuals than commodities. The days of the teams having all the power are over, and this is most evident in the case of free agency. Because of the nature of the business, loyalty is not an honorable attribute as much as it is a calculated business strategy. So why shouldn’t we expect the same from the players themselves? We should, but Brand hurt himself by talking.

Brand came out and stated his intentions publicly before letting things play out. He said he wanted to stay in LA and work something out, but at the same time, he said he wanted to see what the landscape looked like and listen to his agent. If going somewhere else was truly a possibility from the beginning, then he should have shut up.

Brand’s comments about staying were just that: words. In this business, the people involved know that they can count more on ink on the page than words. The Clippers were acting in good faith and thought they were going to build something with Davis and Brand, but that doesn’t mean the fairy tale couldn’t still turn into a nightmare. They knew that. Brand still held all the cards with unrestricted free agency, and he went back on his word. He pulled a Carlos Boozer, and skipped town. The reality is that this is the nature of the business, but it’s different for the fans. Words mean something to them.

To the fans, that’s a betrayal. It means even more considering it’s the Clippers, who haven’t had much of anything to be happy about in recent memory. The fans invest more than time and money on their passion; they invest emotion. Brand wasn’t just making a business move in leaving LA, he was betraying his fans and their emotional investment in their beloved star. Over the past seven seasons, the Clipper faithful saw Brand as the only thing in which to invest their faith and hope. They could count on his 20 points and 10 rebounds every night, and he seemed to be the only bright spot during dark times. Until today, the fans had a bright future to look forward to.

That future in LA apparently wasn’t enough for Brand. He saw a chance to win in the East, where a 37 win team can make the playoffs. He saw the chance to play with another young star in Andre Iguodala and make a splash in a conference that’s far more open than the West, and he can do so while making more money. He made the choice that he thought was best for him, and those involved understand it’s just business.

Just business.

Tell that to the fans Elton.