Elton Brand: Players will stick together

Elton Brand helped organize a team workout scheduled for next week in Los Angeles and most of the key Sixers have told him they will attend. Andre Iguodala, Evan Turner, Lou Williams and others will fly in, share a hotel, play and work out together and do what they can to get ready for the season.

Whenever that starts, no one is quite sure.

"I can't wait to see where the guys are at," Brand said. "I've been talking to them all summer. They seem to be in shape already in case we get this thing going."
Brand attended an NBPA meeting this week in Los Angeles where the message from union leaders and superstars like Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce was a simple one: Stick together.

"I can't speak for the owner's side, but on the player's side, there's definitely a sense of urgency to meet and talk," Brand said.
Brand, entering the fourth of a five-year contract, said "it's tough to answer" if the Sixers really will open the season Nov. 2 in Toronto.

"I'll have a better feel closer to training camp," Brand said. "As of now, it doesn't look good. It doesn't look good at all. I don't think we're going to start with a normal training camp because the numbers are so far apart. But I think as training camp gets closer, we'll know more if we have to miss games."

Brand hasn't ruled out playing overseas if the lockout drags into the regular season.

If he went abroad, it's not because he needs the cash.

"If the season starts on Jan. 1, I would love to have a leg up on guys," Brand said. "I wouldn't want anyone to have a leg up on me. That's why it's been, as we're inching closer, it's been in my brain. I want to be in peak physical condition when the season starts."