ORLANDO -- Elton Brand sure seems like a nice enough guy -- respectful, courteous, thoughtful, engaging. He works hard, too.
Yet he also is beginning to look like an albatross hanging around the neck of the Philadelphia 76ers, the guy with the contract that will prevent them from building a serious contender in the coming years.
Brand, 30, is starting his 10th season in the league, but just the second year of that five-year, $80 million contract he signed as a free agent two summers ago. Although the Sixers were convinced that signing him was wise back then, they are having serious reservations now about the move.
It's one painful decision they would like to have back.
Kevin Durant is not playing around anymore. Last season he joined the ranks of the elite fantasy ballers. Now he's hoping to make that final leap toward the top tier, which is the resting place of LeBron James and Chris Paul.
Fantasy Basketball Rankings: C | PF | SF | SG | PG
PHOENIX -- The Sixers almost came back from an 18-point deficit in the final eight minutes on Friday against the Suns, but the guys usually on the end of Phoenix's bench -- Dan Dickau, Carlos Powell, et al. -- were able to hang on just enough to secure a two-point victory.
Marreese Speights, a second-year player who averaged just under eight points and four rebounds a game last season, was a big reason for the Sixers' strong comeback. He scored 15 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter, while also finishing with 12 rebounds and two blocked shots.
Even though this is the preseason, it was still a career game for Speights, and one that you'd think his new head coach, Eddie Jordan, would be excited about. But that wasn't exactly the case.
FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.
When Philadelphia took just about the most raw point guard possible (Jrue Holiday) in the June draft, then declined to make a strong play to retain incumbent point guard Andre Miller, then declined to cash any other middle tier free agent point guards on the market ... that's when Louis Williams became a starting NBA point guard.
Up until now, Lou has been a bench fireplug for the 76ers, playing both guard positions. It's the classic combo situation: he's a shooting guard with slight point guard tendencies who happens to be the height of a point guard. He's a Bobby Jackson, a Leandro Barbosa. And like Jackson and Barbosa, Williams to this point has been a bench player exclusively.
But with Miller gone and Holiday wrapped in nori, that's about to change.
The start of the NBA season is right around the corner, and that means the much-anticipated release of NBA 2K10. The video game hits stores nationwide on Oct. 6.
FanHouse attended the 2K10 launch party in New York City on Thursday, and spoke to Nate Robinson about re-signing with the Knicks, Andre Iguodala about the greatest moment in NBA2K history, and Brook Lopez about his new boss. Check out the video below.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
If you want to get stars to come out to a charity event, the best place in Los Angeles to host the event would be the Playboy Mansion. Reggie Bush and Chris Paul invited friends to the mansion to play poker and raise some much needed funds to help their Sports Dream Foundation. In this FanHouse exclusive, we catch up with Hugh Hefner, a person many athletes say they would love to be for a day. We also hear from some NBA and NFL stars like Tyson Chandler, Usama Young (Saints), Chester Pitts (Texans), LaMarr Woodley (Steelers) as well as the Collins twins and Andre "Top Dollar" Iguodala, who credits Dave Chappelle for teaching him foreign languages.
I heard Michael Jackson died at approximately 5:30 PM ET. Hours later, I still don't think it's fully hit me. This was the man I idolized growing up as a kid ... I watched Moonwalker about 80 times on VHS (Joe Pesci was the villain). I once furiously outbid someone $159 for a replica Beat It jacket with 13 zippers. I actually have an 8x10 glossy of Billie Jean Michael taped next to my bedroom door.
Everyone -- from celebrities to sports stars to ordinary people -- had their way of trying to feel connected to the King of Pop. In his mere presence, fans have fainted and needed medical attention. So when news broke that Jackson had passed away, the reverberations on social media sites like Twitter were immense. Outspoken wide receiver Chad Ochocinco even went on to tweet "this is just as sad as 9/11" and then tried to play damage control after his offensive comment.
After the jump, read the emotional reactions from current and former athletes.
The 2004 NBA Draft marked the biggest influx of high school entries in league history, which resulted in a series of busts, unexpected gems and troublesome stories. Five years ago, the Orlando Magic agonized over the No. 1 pick with high school product Dwight Howard competing with UConn's Emeka Okafor over Orlando's affections. Howard was a rather unknown entity with an amazing body while Okafor just led the Huskies to the NCAA title and had established himself as the most dominant force in college basketball.
Whomever the Magic passed up would land in the lap of a new NBA team, the Charlotte Bobcats. Those two players appeared to be the only sure things in this draft. It was littered with early entries, unproven players and talented youngsters who might have bolted college a year too early. And making decisions more difficult was a slew of high school players who were years away from making an impact.
When Eddie Jordan got canned from the Wizards, primarily because he mishandled his roster after his starting All-Star point guard missed two years due to injury followed by his starting center going down before the start of this season, most people said the same thing.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
The 76ers are one of the big stories in this year's NBA Playoffs. Back when the season began they couldn't win a game. Now they're giving the Orlando Magic a run for their money, pushing the third seed to a 2-2 series tie before Tuesday night's Game 5, all without powerhouse Elton Brand. In this video, we get to know the 76ers a little bit better, learning about Andre Iguodala's leaping ability, what inspired Samuel Dalembert to play basketball, how Thaddeus Young got the No. 21, and everything there is to know about Royal Ivey's tattoos.
ORLANDO -- Elton Brand sure seems like a nice enough guy -- respectful, courteous, thoughtful, engaging. He works hard, too.
PHOENIX -- The Sixers almost came back from an 18-point deficit in the final eight minutes on Friday against the 
FanHouse previews a 
The start of the NBA season is right around the corner, and that means the much-anticipated release of NBA 2K10. The video game hits stores nationwide on Oct. 6.
If you want to get stars to come out to a charity event, the best place in Los Angeles to host the event would be the Playboy Mansion. 
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in 
When 
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos. 
