LaPhonso Darnell Ellis (born May 5, 1970) is an American retired

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He was selected by the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

as the fifth overall pick in the

1992 NBA draft The 1992 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1992, at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The draft is considered to be one of the deepest in NBA history. The top three picks (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner) were considere ...

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 Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who has served as vice president of player programs and development for the Miami Heat since June 2009. Mourning played most of his 15-year ...

in a holiday tournament his senior year. Also in 1988, Ellis was named a ''Parade'' All-American and

McDonald's High School All-American The McDonald's All-American Game is the All-star game, all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' High school (North America), high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team pla ...

. In 2007, Ellis was voted one of the "

100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) celebrated 100 years of the IHSA State Tournament in the 2006-07 season. A list of "100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament" was assembled on December 14, 2005. Throughout the state, 281 ind ...

", recognizing his superior performance in his appearances in the tournament.IHSA – Legends of Boys Basketball
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College career

Ellis attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

. Notre Dame qualified for the NCAA tournament his freshman and sophomore seasons and was runner-up in the 1992

NIT Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

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

, picked by the

, 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 The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

. He spent two years with the Hawks before going to the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

. In 2001, Ellis signed with the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

, where he retired after the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. He played professionally in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

from 1992 until 2003.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 82 , , 82 , , 33.5 , , .504 , , .154 , , .748 , , 9.1 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , 1.4 , , 14.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 79 , , 34.2 , , .502 , , .304 , , .674 , , 8.6 , , 2.1 , , .8 , , 1.0 , , 15.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 0 , , 9.7 , , .360 , , , , 1.000 , , 2.8 , , .7 , , .2 , , .8 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 45 , , 28 , , 28.2 , , .438 , , .182 , , .601 , , 7.2 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .7 , , 10.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 55 , , 49 , , 36.4 , , .439 , , .367 , , .773 , , 7.0 , , 2.4 , , .8 , , .7 , , 21.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 76 , , 71 , , 33.9 , , .407 , , .284 , , .805 , , 7.2 , , 2.8 , , .9 , , .6 , , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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, 58 , , 8 , , 22.6 , , .450 , , .143 , , .695 , , 5.0 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .4 , , 8.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, 82 , , 5 , , 23.8 , , .464 , , .318 , , .790 , , 6.0 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .9 , , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, 66 , , 14 , , 25.5 , , .418 , , .306 , , .631 , , 4.3 , , .8 , , .5 , , .6 , , 7.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 55 , , 3 , , 14.3 , , .382 , , .252 , , .758 , , 2.9 , , .3 , , .3 , , .3 , , 5.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 624 , , 359 , , 28.2 , , .452 , , .302 , , .730 , , 6.5 , , 1.6 , , .7 , , .8 , , 11.9

Playoffs

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1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

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, 12 , , 12 , , 36.3 , , .479 , , .500 , , .704 , , 8.1 , , 2.2 , , .8 , , .9 , , 14.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

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, 4 , , 0 , , 19.3 , , .391 , , .000 , , .750 , , 3.5 , , .0 , , .3 , , .8 , , 6.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", 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 ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

In popular culture

Ellis was mentioned multiple times on the Nickelodeon series ''

The Secret World of Alex Mack ''The Secret World of Alex Mack'' is an American television series that ran from October 8, 1994 to January 15, 1998, on Nickelodeon (part of the SNICK line-up). The series was co-created by Ken Lipman and Thomas W. Lynch and was produced by Lynch ...

''. In the episode "Nerve" he was said to be star athlete of fictional Danielle Atron Junior High School under Coach Rooney (

Glenn Morshower Glenn Morshower is an American character actor. He is best known for playing United States Secret Service, Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce (24 character), Aaron Pierce in ''24 (TV series), 24'' and Colonel (later General) Sharp Morshower in the ...

) and record-holder of his signature obstacle course. The school system's athletics field is named in his honor.

External links

* * *

References

* http://www.bethelcollegepilots.com/coach/0/1.php {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Laphonso 1970 births Living people African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Illinois College basketball announcers in the United States Denver Nuggets draft picks Denver Nuggets players ESPN people McDonald's High School All-Americans Miami Heat players Minnesota Timberwolves players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from East St. Louis, Illinois