Pervis Ellison (born April 3, 1967) is an American former

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 ...

(NBA) player. Nicknamed "Never Nervous Pervis" for his clutch play with the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

, after leading Louisville to a national championship, Ellison was the first overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft. His professional career was largely hindered by injuries, though he won the

NBA Most Improved Player Award The NBA's Most Improved Player Award (MIP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the player who has shown the most progress during the regular season compared to previous seasons. The winner is selected by a panel of s ...

in 1992.

Collegiate career

At , , he started all four years as the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

under coach

Denny Crum Denzel Edwin "Denny" Crum (born March 2, 1937) is an American former men's college basketball coach at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001, compiling a record. He guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships ( 1980, 1986) and six Fin ...

. In his freshman year he led Louisville to its second

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

, scoring a game-leading 25 points and adding 11 rebounds in the 72-69 championship win over Duke, and was then named the Most Outstanding Player—the second time a freshman had ever been awarded that honor, after

Arnie Ferrin Chariton Arnold Ferrin Jr. (July 29, 1925 − December 27, 2022) was an American professional basketball player, executive, and college athletics administrator. He played college basketball for the Utah Utes and earned All-American honors fou ...

in 1944 for Utah.

Professional career

Ellison was made the first overall pick in the

1989 NBA draft The 1989 NBA draft took place on June 27, 1989, in New York City. Despite eight of the top ten picks being considered busts, including the first two picks Pervis Ellison and Danny Ferry, the draft produced many talented players such as Shawn K ...

by the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. Teammate

Danny Ainge Daniel Ray Ainge ( ; born March 17, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and former professional baseball player who serves as an executive for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-sp ...

gave Ellison the nickname "Out of Service Pervis" for the many injuries that would plague him during his professional career. An injury kept him on the sidelines for 48 of 82 games of his rookie year, after which he was traded to the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

in a three-team trade involving the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

that also sent

Jeff Malone Jeffrey Nigel Malone (born June 28, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Mississippi State, and is mostly known for his time with the Washington Bullets (1983–1990) of the National Basketb ...

to the Jazz and

Eric Leckner Eric Charles Leckner (born May 27, 1966) is a retired American professional basketball player who was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round (17th overall) of the 1988 NBA Draft. He attended Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Califo ...

Bob Hansen Robert Louis Hansen II (born January 18, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A guard, he played nine seasons (1983–1992) in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Hansen is currently a commentator for Iowa Hawkeyes ...

, and draft picks to the Kings. On April 6, 1991, Ellison scored a career-best 30 points while adding 12 rebounds in a win over the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

. Although he sometimes played as a backup in 1990–1991, the following year he became a full time starter and earned Most Improved Player honors after averaging 20.0 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.68 blocks per game. Among the best games of Ellison's NBA career occurred on January 31, 1992, when he recorded 19 points, 19 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocked shots and 2 steals against the Knicks. Assorted injuries plagued his career, including two knee problems that kept him benched for 29 games in 1992–93 and 30 games in 1993–94. Ellison signed with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

after he was released by Washington in April 1994, but did not play until midway through the following season because he was still rehabilitating from knee problems. A broken toe suffered while moving furniture kept him out of most games between 1996 and 1998. After participating in 69 out of a possible 246 games over the final three seasons with the Celtics, he joined the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

in 2000 but retired after playing nine games. He once coached basketball for Life Center Academy in

Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a city in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,743. Burlington was first incorporated on October 24, 1693, and was r ...

and is a resident of

Voorhees Township, New Jersey Voorhees Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,131, reflecting an inc ...

.Schwartz, Erik
"Basketball tournament to honor slaying victim"
''

Courier Post The ''Courier-Post'' is a morning daily newspaper that serves South Jersey in the Delaware Valley. It is based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and serves most of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties. The paper has 30,313 daily paid subscriber ...

'', September 15, 2005. Accessed March 17, 2011. "Also expected to appear and sign autographs are Pervis Ellison a Voorhees resident and YMCA member who was the top pick in the 1989 NBA draft." His son

Malik Malik, Mallik, Melik, Malka, Malek, Maleek, Malick, Mallick, or Melekh ( phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤊; ar, ملك; he, מֶלֶךְ) is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic duri ...

played for him at Life Center Academy and is a professional basketball player.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 34 , , 22 , , 25.5 , , .442 , , .000 , , .628 , , 5.8 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , 1.7 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, 76 , , 30 , , 25.6 , , .513 , , .000 , , .650 , , 7.7 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , 2.1 , , 10.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 66 , , 64 , , 38.0 , , .539 , , .333 , , .782 , , 11.2 , , 2.9 , , .9 , , 2.7 , , 20.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 49 , , 48 , , 34.7 , , .521 , , .000 , , .702 , , 8.8 , , 2.4 , , .9 , , 2.2 , , 17.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 47 , , 24 , , 25.1 , , .469 , , .000 , , .722 , , 5.1 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , 1.1 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, 55 , , 11 , , 19.7 , , .507 , , .000 , , .717 , , 5.6 , , .6 , , .4 , , 1.0 , , 6.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 69 , , 29 , , 20.7 , , .492 , , , , .641 , , 6.5 , , .9 , , .6 , , 1.4 , , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 4 , , 20.8 , , .375 , , , , .600 , , 4.3 , , .7 , , .8 , , 1.5 , , 2.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 8 , , 13.5 , , .571 , , , , .588 , , 3.3 , , .9 , , .6 , , .9 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 5 , , 9.0 , , .442 , , , , .714 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .3 , , .3 , , 1.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, 9 , , 0 , , 4.4 , , .286 , , , , 1.000 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .0 , , .2 , , .7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 474 , , 245 , , 24.5 , , .520 , , .050 , , .689 , , 6.7 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , 1.6 , , 9.5

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 0 , , 17.0 , , .579 , , , , 1.000 , , 4.3 , , .5 , , .5 , , 1.3 , , 6.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 4 , , 0 , , 17.0 , , .579 , , , , 1.000 , , 4.3 , , .5 , , .5 , , 1.3 , , 6.0

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, Pervis 1967 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1987 Pan American Games Basketball players from Savannah, Georgia Boston Celtics players Centers (basketball) Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in basketball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States People from Voorhees Township, New Jersey Sacramento Kings draft picks Sacramento Kings players Seattle SuperSonics players Washington Bullets players United States men's national basketball team players