At age 37 and after 17 NBA seasons and a two-time NBA All-Star award since the 1999 NBA Draft, Philadelphia 76ers forward Elton Brand has retired.

Playing a total of 1,058 career games, Brand was chosen as started for 868 of them, and has played for the greatest NBA leagues, starting with the Chicago Bulls, who drafted him as first overall pick. He then went on to play with three other teams in his career, the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, and Atlanta Hawks, until finally joining the 76ers.

In a tweet released by NBA team Philadelphia 76ers, Brand is quoted as saying, "after 17 years playing game I love I'm officially retiring. It's been a wonderful journey. It's been an honor and a privilege."

According to Yahoo! Sports, Brand averages at 15.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 blocked shots a game throughout his NBA career. Brand was also rated America's top college player while playing college basketball for Duke University.

The Philly Voice says that Brand, who has been playing for 37 years now, has not resigned due to his less than stellar last season, which many have linked to his Achilles surgery almost 10 years ago, a condition that was said to be correlative with the downward trend in his performance. Instead, he is now taking on the new role of mentoring the team, particularly up and coming athletes, Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel.

Jahil Okafor, in particular, talks about how Brand has been a huge influence, with his presence being felt in the locker room even though he wasn't around. Fondly referred to as "Old-school Chevy", Brand had previously mentored Okafor, who was once involved in well-publicized squabbles off court.

Just this month, Brand signed a one year contract worth $1 million with the 76ers, a sure sign that though he is about to retire, the veteran athlete is still keen on being involved with the team and with the sport.

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