Hawks veteran forward Elton Brand says his favorite sports Christmas gift may have been one he never got. Growing up in Peekskill, N.Y., living in a low-income public-housing complex, Brand’s mother, Daisy, was trying to teach him a lesson one Christmas. It’s one that he often recalls as the father of his own son Elton Peace, 5, and daughter Mahala, 1, with his wife, Shahara.
When I was young, probably 10 or 11, I snuck and looked at my gift from my mom, and I saw that I had got a Nintendo. It was the night before Christmas. I saw the purple wrapping, so I’m so excited I got a Nintendo. And I wanted a Nintendo. And I get up the next morning and it’s Rollerblades, not a Nintendo. My mom is like, “I’m not buying a video game. They rot your brain. You need to be outside exercising and playing outside.”
I’d always wanted a Nintendo, and I told her I wanted one. A few of my friends had them. As a single-parent mom, I thought it might have been a money issue. Then I went to the store and I saw that Rollerblades cost more than the Nintendo. She really wanted me to be outside doing exercise instead of playing video games.
Looking back on it, now that I have kids, it’s like, “I get it.” But back then I was like, “Phssst. What is this? Rollerblades?” I might have used them a few times. She never gave in, never did.
My son goes to Waldorf School in Atlanta, which focuses on imagination and play. We don’t have any TV for him to watch or anything like that. To this day I don’t play video games.
