sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

LaPhonso Darnell Ellis (born May 5, 1970) is an American retired basketball player. He was selected by the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets as the fifth overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft.

LaPhonso Ellis

Personal information
Born	(1970-05-05) May 5, 1970 (age 52) East St. Louis, Illinois
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school	Lincoln (East St. Louis, Illinois)
College	Notre Dame (1988–1992)
NBA draft	1992 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the Denver Nuggets
Playing career	1992–2003
Position	Power forward
Number	20, 3
Career history
1992–1998	Denver Nuggets
1999–2000	Atlanta Hawks
2000–2001	Minnesota Timberwolves
2001–2003	Miami Heat
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1993) First-team Parade All-American (1988) McDonald's All-American (1988) Notre Dame Ring of Honor
Career NBA statistics
Points	7,410 (11.9 ppg)
Rebounds	4,032 (6.5 rpg)
Assists	981 (1.6 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Early career

He was an outstanding high school basketball player at East St. Louis Lincoln High School, where he led the Tigers to two straight Illinois Class AA boys' championships in 1987 and 1988. In a heavily hyped-up matchup, Ellis outplayed Alonzo Mourning in a holiday tournament his senior year. Also in 1988, Ellis was named a Parade All-American and McDonald's High School All-American. In 2007, Ellis was voted one of the "100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament", recognizing his superior performance in his appearances in the tournament.[1]

College career

Ellis attended the University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame qualified for the NCAA tournament his freshman and sophomore seasons and was runner-up in the 1992 NIT Tournament his senior season.

Ellis was one of four captains of the 1991–92 Notre Dame team. Throughout his career, he scored 1,505 career points, averaging 15.5 points per game, to earn school rankings of 12th and 22nd in those categories, respectively. He recorded 200 career blocks, a school record. He ranks third on the school's career rebounding list with 1,075, and eighth on the career rebounding average list with 11.1 per game. He led the 1991–92 team in scoring (17.7 ppg), rebounding (11.7 rpg), field goal percentage (.631), and blocked shots (2.6 bpg). He led Notre Dame in blocked shots in each of his four seasons, the only player in school history to do so. Ellis graduated from Notre Dame on time with a degree in accounting.

Professional career

Ellis was the fifth overall selection in the 1992 NBA draft, picked by the Denver Nuggets, In his rookie season, he averaged 14.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks. He was also named to the 1992–93 All-Rookie first team. Ellis later on struggled with injuries, only playing six games in the 1994–95 season. Ellis had his best season in 1996–97, leading the Nuggets in scoring with 21.9 points per game.

After playing six years in Denver, Ellis signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks. He spent two years with the Hawks before going to the Minnesota Timberwolves. In 2001, Ellis signed with the Miami Heat, where he retired after the 2003 season. He played professionally in the NBA from 1992 until 2003.

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1992–93	Denver	82	82	33.5	.504	.154	.748	9.1	1.8	.9	1.4	14.7
1993–94	Denver	79	79	34.2	.502	.304	.674	8.6	2.1	.8	1.0	15.4
1994–95	Denver	6	0	9.7	.360	—	1.000	2.8	.7	.2	.8	4.0
1995–96	Denver	45	28	28.2	.438	.182	.601	7.2	1.6	.8	.7	10.5
1996–97	Denver	55	49	36.4	.439	.367	.773	7.0	2.4	.8	.7	21.9
1997–98	Denver	76	71	33.9	.407	.284	.805	7.2	2.8	.9	.6	14.3
1998–99	Atlanta	20	20	27.0	.421	.200	.705	5.5	.9	.4	.4	10.2
1999–2000	Atlanta	58	8	22.6	.450	.143	.695	5.0	1.0	.6	.4	8.4
2000–01	Minnesota	82	5	23.8	.464	.318	.790	6.0	1.1	.8	.9	9.4
2001–02	Miami	66	14	25.5	.418	.306	.631	4.3	.8	.5	.6	7.1
2002–03	Miami	55	3	14.3	.382	.252	.758	2.9	.3	.3	.3	5.0
Career		624	359	28.2	.452	.302	.730	6.5	1.6	.7	.8	11.9

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1994	Denver	12	12	36.3	.479	.500	.704	8.1	2.2	.8	.9	14.8
2001	Minnesota	4	0	19.3	.391	.000	.750	3.5	.0	.3	.8	6.0
Career		16	12	32.1	.467	.429	.710	6.9	1.6	.6	.9	12.6

Personal

Since 2009, Ellis has been a college basketball analyst for ESPN.

In popular culture

Ellis was mentioned multiple times on the Nickelodeon series The Secret World of Alex Mack. In the episode "Nerve" he was said to be star athlete of fictional Danielle Atron Junior High School under Coach Rooney (Glenn Morshower) and record-holder of his signature obstacle course. The school system's athletics field is named in his honor.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com 
• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com  and Basketball-Reference.com
• LaPhonso Ellis at IMDb

References

• http://www.bethelcollegepilots.com/coach/0/1.php

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