Brand Probably Won’t Crack All-Star List

January is drawing to a close, which means it’s just about time for Elton Brand’s yearly reminder that, until he lifts the Clippers higher in the standings, he probably won’t make the Western Conference All-Star team.

Not that he needs reminding.

Brand played in the midseason showcase once, three years ago, replacing Shaquille O’Neal after O’Neal bowed out because of an injury.

Usually, though, he is left behind in favor of brighter stars.

The West is stacked with most of the NBA’s best big men: Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Webber and Amare Stoudemire, to name six that will finish ahead of Brand in fan balloting, which ends today. Peja Stojakovic is a two-time All-Star, Shawn Marion has helped lift the Phoenix Suns to new heights and Pau Gasol is the No. 1 scorer and rebounder for the Memphis Grizzlies, who made the playoffs last season and lead the Clippers again this season.

Which means that Brand, again, probably won’t get a nod.

“He deserves better,” TNT’s Charles Barkley told his audience the other night. “He’s been left off so many times.”

Brand, whose averages of 19.3 points and 9.4 rebounds after Saturday’s game are a fraction of a point and about a rebound short of the career numbers he brought into the season, claimed not to have given it much thought. He said he understood.

“It depends on how we finish this stretch,” he said of his chances this year, which will be determined by a Feb. 7 vote of the league’s coaches. “If we’re above .500 when February comes around, there’s a good chance I’ll get some consideration. Corey Maggette hopefully will get some consideration too. But if not ... “

They’ll take the weekend off.

*

Casey Jacobsen was driving Friday when he got the news from his wife, Brittney: The former Glendora High star had been traded from the Phoenix Suns, one of the NBA’s best teams, to the New Orleans Hornets, one of the worst.

“It’s humbling,” Jacobsen said Saturday before making his Hornet debut against the Clippers. “There was no warning, no expectation. I understood that probably the chances were 99% that I wouldn’t play in Phoenix forever, but you never know when you’re going to get that phone call. Nobody can ever prepare you for it.”

Of the Suns, he said: “I don’t really want to talk too much about the past, but I will say that that team is special. We started out 31-4. I got to play minutes for that team and contribute something to it. I was proud to be on that team.”