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

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(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 under coach Denny Crum. In his freshman year he led Louisville to its second

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or 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 best team, indi ...

, 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 term Most Outstanding Player may refer to: * The recipient of the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award * The NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award * The College World Series Most Outstanding Player in college baseball * The N ...

—the second time a freshman had ever been awarded that honor, after Arnie Ferrin 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 ...

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, Northwest Division. Since the 1991–92 season, ...

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, Bob Hansen, 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 est ...

. 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 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

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 ...

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 Conf ...

in 2000 but retired after playing nine games. He once coached basketball for Life Center Academy in Burlington, New Jersey and is a resident of

Voorhees Township, New Jersey Voorhees Township is a township in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,131, reflecting an increase of 1,005 (+3.6%) from the 28,126 counted in the 2000 census. Voorhee ...

.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 subscribe ...

'', 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 , 76 , , 30 , , 25.6 , , .513 , , .000 , , .650 , , 7.7 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , 2.1 , , 10.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 66 , , 64 , , 38.0 , , .539 , , .333 , , .782 , , 11.2 , , 2.9 , , .9 , , 2.7 , , 20.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 49 , , 48 , , 34.7 , , .521 , , .000 , , .702 , , 8.8 , , 2.4 , , .9 , , 2.2 , , 17.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 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 capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, 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 port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, 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

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

, 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