There are players who are canvases of an era. Among all the legends of that 80s Spanish basketball, where there was smoke in the arenas and the Americans were gods with names, dunks, statistics (and off-court stories), stratospheric, no one can forget Brad Branson, that center (2.08 meters) well-groomed, fast, forever linked his image to his inseparable wristbands, who played two seasons at Real Madrid (22.2 points and 9.5 rebounds in the first) and six more at Valencia Basket. One of the myths of that nostalgic era who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 67.
Lolo Sainz signed Branson in the summer of '86. The task was not easy: to make people forget about Fernando Martín, who had just made his historic leap to the NBA with the Blazers. Audie Norris was the first choice on the coach's list, but the top shot-blocker from the Italian Lega ended up arriving. Branson played two seasons in white, slightly decreasing his performance in the second season when he coincided with the eternal number 10.
It was not a prosperous time in terms of titles, barely the Korac Cup in 1988, although they defeated Drazen Petrovic's Cibona, the demon who had tormented the whites for so long and who would later join Real Madrid. Branson, who formed an American duo with Wendell Alexis (in the first season he did it with Larry Springs), was the top scorer in the first leg (102-89) alongside Romay. That same year, Branson was present in the legendary Copa del Rey final in Valladolid, where a buzzer-beater three-pointer from Nacho Solozábal gave the title to the blue and red team.
After his time in the capital, Branson became part of Valencia's history, a club that had just been promoted to the ACB and where he spent six seasons until 1993-94 when he announced his retirement. He remains the American player with the most seasons played for the club, participating in 230 games. He also made Valencia his home. Married to a Valencian woman, his daughter Natalia, who became a prominent figure in the Fallas festival, continues to work at Valencia Basket (marketing department).
Between both teams, he accumulated 280 games and 9,106 minutes of play in the ACB. Perhaps his most outstanding performance was in a game against Estudiantes with his friend John Pinone, with whom he battled in the paint and shared dinners in the capital afterward: he achieved a 44 efficiency rating (35 points, 18 rebounds). His highest scoring game was with the Valencia team, against Fórum Valladolid (37 points).
Branson started playing basketball late. In an interview with Jot Down, he confessed that his height came from his biological father, Lou Scott, a NCAA champion with Indiana University in 1954. Born in Harvey (Chicago), Brad grew up in Florida. There, he played in High School, where he began to stand out. Later, he attended Edison State and SMU (Southern Methodist University). He was drafted by the Pistons, although his first professional season was spent in Rimini (Italy).
He would later have a brief stint in the NBA, playing 10 games with the Cavaliers and 62 with the Pacers. In 1983, he returned to Italy, joining Brescia. There, he coincided with a young assistant coach named Sergio Scariolo. Until Real Madrid and Spain came calling.