SHAUN LIVINGSTON
               NEWS

EL SEGUNDO -- Elton Brand's rehabilitation program moved ahead another step Tuesday when the Los Angeles Clippers forward was informed that he no longer has to wear the protective walking boot on his left foot.

The boot replaced the cast that Elton Brand wore for six weeks after surgery Aug. 7 to repair a ruptured left Achilles' tendon.

Elton Brand was examined by Dr. Craig Morgan at Christian Care's Wilmington Hospital in Delaware and was cleared to begin advanced cardiovascular training. That program will include elliptical and treadmill conditioning, along with aqua therapy.

Elton Brand was scheduled to return to Los Angeles today in time for the Los Angeles Clippers' exhibition game tonight at Staples Center against the Sacramento Kings. Elton Brand will return to Delaware in six weeks for a re-evaluation by Morgan, who performed the surgery four days after Elton Brand was injured during a one-on-one drill with teammate Chris Kaman in a voluntary workout session.

The recovery and rehabilitation is expected to keep Elton Brand out until at least February.

THOMAS PRACTICES

Forward Tim Thomas was back at practice Tuesday after missing two workouts and two exhibition games because of a family emergency in New Jersey. Thomas said he plans to play tonight.

"It feels good to be back and in the flow of things," he said. "I'm trying to get my mind off the current events occurring back home."

While declining to give the specifics of the situation, Thomas said he hopes he is not required to return home anytime soon, although the situation might call for that.

"Family of course comes first," he said. "But when you have a job to perform you have to be accountable."

Thomas said he felt somewhat rusty in his first practice in a week and to ensure his conditioning had not waned too much, Thomas said he put in some extra work riding the stationary bike after the two-hour practice.

"I wasn't able to see the three games that we played but I kept track of the scores and I talked to some of the guys while I was gone,'' Thomas said. "From what I was told, we were competing and playing hard in every game.''

Shaun Livingston UPDATE

Guard Shaun Livingston continues to increase his on-court activity as part of his rehabilitation from a surgically repaired left knee. With player development consultant Fred Vinson conducting the drills and trainer Jasen Powell keeping a close watch, Shaun Livingston spent more than 45 minutes shooting the basketball from various stations on the floor.

"It's basically a repetition thing," Powell said. "It's gradually working him into what he's going to be doing, which is shooting and playing basketball. What he's doing now is working on some things that he considers to be his weaknesses, that he can start doing now ahead of time, and which possibly could eventually turn into a strength of his, which is shooting."

Vinson, a former NBA player, is working with Shaun Livingston to alter some of the mechanics of Shaun Livingston's jump shot, specifically in hand placement on the ball.

Powell said it's important Shaun Livingston not get overtaxed during his workouts.

"He'll ice up thoroughly afterward," Powell said. "We're at a point now where we know when he's doing too much strength wise or conditioning wise, so we back off. The swelling and soreness being the indicator."

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