POSTED: February 9th, 2006

Elton will be taking the floor for the Western Conference All Star squad for the second time in his career.

RELATED: Clippers.com Elton Brand All Star Index

The National Basketball Association announced today that Clippers forward Elton Brand has been selected by the coaches as a reserve for the 2006 Western Conference All-Star Team for the 55th NBA All-Star Game which will be played in Houston on Sunday, February 19, at 5:00 p.m. (PT).

Brand is averaging 25.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.62 blocks per game in leading the Clippers to a 29-18 record, the team’s best start in 30 years. Brand is also shooting 52.9% from the floor this season and 78.1% from the free throw line. He is the only player to rank in the top 10 in the league in both points and rebounds per game entering play tonight and also ranks in the top ten in blocks per game and field goal percentage.

The 6’8” Brand has scored 30 or more points in 15 of the 45 games he has played in this season, while topping the 20-point mark in 36 games this season. He also has 27 point-rebound double-doubles this season.

Brand joins Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, Memphis’ Pau Gasol, Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett, Phoenix’s Shawn Marion, San Antonio’s Tony Parker and Seattle’s Ray Allen as Western Conference reserves. Houston’s Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming along with Phoenix’s Steve Nash, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan and the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant were named Western Conference starters on February 2.

This is Brand’s second All-Star selection. He also played in the 2002 NBA All-Star Game in Philadelphia as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers.