The global coronavirus pandemic has been tough on just about everybody. No matter one’s status, they are still stuck inside and there is so much uncertainty in the world as everybody copes with the current situation the world finds itself in.
That is no different for Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand who is still trying to get used to being at home all the time rather than with his team and at the arena. As an executive, so the one thing this downtime does offer is time to delve deep into the draft. Especially when considering that this draft is going to be a very unusual process. That gives him something to do and take care of his mental state.
“It’s been a lot of film work, it’s been a lot of web conferences from Zoom to WebEx. It’s a deep dive on draft prospects,” Brand explained. “Scenarios — we’re creating scenarios regarding, you know, everything, from if the season continues and free agency and on and on and on. So I had to create some boundaries. Like, after 8:30, unless it’s an emergency, there’s no meetings. There’s no video. Try to get at least a weekend off, if you can. Just creating those boundaries, because we didn’t have those.”
On top of that, Brand now has some time to spend with his family. He has been involved in the NBA for quite some time as he now has the opportunity to be able to be with his kids and tell them stories as well as being a dad at this important time.
“Spending time with my family, after traveling for 20 years as an NBA player, and as an exec, I didn’t have this time to take a break and go bike riding with my kids,” he added. “You know, spend time with my daughter and read her a book, or play a game with my son, spend time with my wife. So just expressing gratitude for what we have and just being thankful at this time. Just a lot of family time when I can fit it in, but I’m here, so that’s important.”
In terms of trying to explain what’s going on in the world to his kids, he tries to make it fun.
“My son, Peace is 11, my daughter Mahala is 7, so it’s not about just doom and gloom,” he added. “So I’m trying to create some, I’m intentionally trying to create some good memories. Like, I have a fire pit, so we spend time in the fire pit. We spend time around the fire pit. If it’s not a school night we try to stay out and look at the stars, and just imagine and talk and make up games about, alright, when it’s possible and it’s deemed safe, where are we gonna go? You know, my daughter says she’s gonna go to Paris and eat cheese and bread. She’s never been to Paris, by the way.”
It is always important to keep things light and fun during this time. Especially when these kids have not seen their friends for quite some time.
“It’s just intentionally making positive memories so when they’re older and they’re not going through it, they reflect back in a positive way, because they haven’t played with their friends in two months,” he finished with. [lawrence-related id=30531,30521,30510]