Interview with Elton Brown of the Colorado 14ers

Elton Brown left the Virginia Cavaliers as 20th all-time in scoring and 13th all-time in rebounding. After college Elton went to Greece where he lead the league in rebounding. Elton now brings that same down low power game nightly for the NBDL’s Colorado 14ers. I spoke with Elton after a game against the Los Angeles D-Fenders to get his feedback on his career so far and where it’s going from here.

Richard Walker: Do you ever get confused with Elton Brown of the [NFL’s Arizona] Cardinals? He was at Virginia the same time you were.

Elton Brown: (laughs) That’s my cousin. His name is Elton Brown too.

Richard Walker: No way.

Elton Brown: Yeah. First cousins.

Richard Walker: That’s cool man. Back in high school you were MVP of the AAU National Championship Tournament weren’t you?

At this point Elton looks around the locker room and says…

Elton Brown: Hold on, say that again, I didn’t hear you.

I repeat my question again – this time much louder – and everybody in the locker room laughs and makes jokes as Elton looks around beaming a smile at his teammates.

Elton Brown: (still laughing) Oh yeah! Yeah, I definitely was.

Richard Walker: You guys had a pretty good squad, what was that whole experience like?

Elton Brown: It was fun playing with a lot of players that are in the NBA now like J.J. Redick and Jarrett Jack. We had good players then and it was fun. We were young and played against a lot of players across the country that are in the NBA now who were good, solid players then. So it was a good experience.

Richard Walker: Coming into Virginia you had some conditioning issues, then you went out into the off-season and kind of refocused yourself and dedicated yourself [to getting in better shape].

Elton Brown: Yeah, when I first got there I was like 280lbs and I got down to 250lbs and it helped me out big time. I lost 30lbs. I had a good conditioning coach and he stayed on me every day and watched my diet. It turned out to be good for me.

Richard Walker: Is that something you’re staying true to today?

Elton Brown: Yeah, I watch what I eat, and I still work on my conditioning hard, and it shows on the court.

Richard Walker: You played in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. How did you feel you did?

Elton Brown: Actually, I did pretty good. I made the All-Portsmouth Team and I did pretty well. Unfortunately some off the court issues happened where I couldn’t really do my individual workouts.

Richard Walker: When you were in Greece you lead the whole league in rebounding.

Elton Brown: I lead the league in rebounding, and it was a good thing. It was a hard league.

Richard Walker: How was playing in Greece in generally?

Elton Brown: The competition was real good.

At this point some of his teammates start making fun of him for talking about how great he is and Elton looks at me and says…

Elton Brown: Did you not ask me if I lead the league in rebounding?

Richard Walker: (laughing and looking at his teammates) I did, I asked him that.

Elton Brown: (laughing) I just listened to the question and then went on with it!

Somebody then calls out to Elton that “he’s his own biggest fan!” and we laughed a bit more before continuing.

Elton Brown: Anyway, but yeah, overseas competition was good. They play team ball, it’s a good atmosphere. It’s a tough league.

Richard Walker: Didn’t your former [Virginia] teammate [Travis] Watson play in Greece?

Elton Brown: He did play in Greece, but he wasn’t there when I was there. He played in Italy last year.

Richard Walker: You were in training camp with the [New York] Knicks, what was that like?

Elton Brown: It was a good experience just to see how the NBA life was – it was good – and hopefully I can get back there.

Richard Walker: Are you getting any feedback from NBA personnel about what you need to work on to get back to that level?

Elton Brown: I talk to a lot of them, and a lot of them just say keep doing what I’m doing. I’m rebounding well and they say I’m scoring well. I just got to keep trying to help my team win and that’s the main thing.

Richard Walker: Thanks a lot.

Elton Brown: No problem. Thanks.