Joseph Franklin Ellis (born May 3, 1944) is an American former professional

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 (appro ...

player who played eight seasons in the

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

for the

Warriors A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

(first in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

then in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

). He played

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for the

San Francisco Dons The San Francisco Dons is the nickname of the athletic teams at the University of San Francisco (USF). The Dons compete in NCAA Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of the West Coast Conference (WCC), of ...

High school career

Ellis attended

McClymonds High School McClymonds High School is a public high school in the West Oakland neighborhood of Oakland, California, Oakland, California, United States. In addition to being the third oldest high school in Oakland, it is the only comprehensive high school ...

, from 1960 to 1962 he was a member of three Tournament of Champions teams. He made the All Tournament Team in both his varsity years and in his senior year was named the All Tournament Most Valuable Player. He was also selected to the All City Teams and in 1962 was named the Northern California Player of the year.

College career

Ellis stayed in state for his collegiate career, joining the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

. He played for the Dons from 1963 to 1966, being part of First Team All Conference teams each year. He was named Northern California Player of the Year and also received an All American honorable mention. He was one of four juniors chosen in 1965 to represent the United States in the

World University Games The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

. Scoring 1,120 points for the team (third all-time best) he was inducted into the USF Hall of Fame in 1973 and named one of 75 "Legends of the Hilltop" in 2006 for the 150th anniversary of the university. In 2020, USF retired Ellis' number 31.

Professional career

Ellis was selected by the

San Francisco Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

in the second round (13th pick overall) of the

1966 NBA draft The 1966 NBA draft was the 20th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 11 and 12, 1966, before the 1966–67 season. In this draft, ten NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball ...

. He played eight seasons in the NBA for his hometown club (who relocated to Oakland in 1971), posting 4,825 points at an average of 8.6 per game (and 5.0 rebounds per game). He held double-figure scoring averages in three successive seasons, including averages of 15.8 points per game during the 1969–70 season. He played for the Belgium Lions of the

European Professional Basketball League The European Professional Basketball League (EPBL) was a professional basketball league held in Europe in 1975. Despite being played in five European countries (Belgium, Israel, Spain, Switzerland and West Germany) it was for the most part owned ...

in 1975.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

Playoffs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Joseph 1944 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Oakland, California Golden State Warriors players McClymonds High School alumni San Francisco Dons men's basketball players San Francisco Warriors draft picks San Francisco Warriors players Shooting guards Small forwards 20th-century American sportsmen