One Of The Finest Long Distance Experts In NBA History - Dale Ellis

 

One of the best "catch and shoot" players of all time, Dale Ellis dropped many long distance bombs on opponent squads in the 1980s and 1990s.

When Dale Ellis entered the NBA in 1983 shooting from three point land was way less popular than it is now. The 3 point shot was introduced only a few seasons ago and it took a while for it to earn popularity. Dale Ellis was one of the first players who started using three ball as one of his primary weapons.

Dale wasn't recognized as a sniper while playing for University of Tennessee but he always had the 3 point shot in his arsenal - he had to play center as a youngster because of his height. He played his first 3 seasons in Dallas and never averaged more than 10 points per game. In his 2nd and 3rd season he combined for 1175 points and 315 of them came from 3-point shots. In those two years only 3 players (World B Free, Bird and Hodges) made more threes than Ellis.

In 1986 he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics and it turned out to be a career defining trade for him. He had suddenly turned into one of the league's top scorers as he averaged almost 25 PPG. It didn't come as a stagger that he additionally won the NBA Most Improved Player Award that season. Unexpectedly, Seattle went as far as the Western Conference Finals after missing playoffs the previous year.

Following season Ellis was one of three Seattle players who averaged more than 20 points (Ellis at 25.8 ppg, McDaniel at 21.4, and Chambers at 20.4). It was the first season when Dale hit more than 100 threes but still he proved that he has become a much more multifaceted scorer - only 16% of his points came from threes. Unluckily, SuperSonics lost to the Denver Nuggets in the opening round of the playoffs.

1988-1989 was quite possibly his best season. He made his only All-Star game and won the 3-point contest. Only Micheal Jordan and Karl Malone averaged more points in 88-89 than Ellis (27.5 PPG). That season he made 162 3-pointers and had an excellent 0.478 percentage from behind the 3-point line. Sonics made it to the second round of the playoffs in 1989.

He played only 55 games in the next season and then he was traded to Milwaukee. Dale's playing time was significantly downsized there but it was still solid - close to 30 minutes per game. His minutes went up again when he was playing for the San Antonio Spurs from 1992 to 1994. Dale was a pretty useful scorer in San Antonio shooting almost 50% from the field but he wasn't getting any younger.

After these two seasons in San Antonio, already 34 years old, he signed with the Denver Nuggets. Most of the players retire once in their mid-30s but Ellis quietly managed to compile a string of 3 decent seasons in Denver. In 1996-1997 he averaged almost 17 points every night and that was his second best scoring season since he left Seattle in 1990. However, he didn't shot very well - 0.414 from the field. Dale truly fell in love with the three ball that season as he knocked down career record 192 3-pointers.

In the end of his career, Ellis came back to Seattle to play there for two seasons. Dale was just a couple of years removed from his 40th birthday but he was still good for 10 points every night.