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 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 ...

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

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

, 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 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, 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 in 1944 for Utah.

Professional career

Ellison was made the first overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft 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 Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

. Teammate

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

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 Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

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 Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

that also sent Jeff Malone 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. 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 Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

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 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.Schwartz, Erik
"Basketball tournament to honor slaying victim"
'' Courier Post'', 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 (; ; ; variously Romanized ''Mallik'', ''Melik'', ''Malka'', ''Malek'', ''Maleek'', ''Malick'', ''Mallick'', ''Melekh'') is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic d ...

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

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1985–86 , style="text-align:left;", Louisville , 39 , , 39 , , 30.6 , , .554 , , – , , .682 , , 8.2 , , 2.0 , , 1.3 , , 2.4 , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1986–87 , style="text-align:left;", Louisville , 31 , , 31 , , 30.7 , , .533 , , – , , .719 , , 8.7 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , 2.6 , , 15.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1987–88 , style="text-align:left;", Louisville , 35 , , 35 , , 33.6 , , .601 , , .500 , , .692 , , 8.3 , , 3.1 , , 1.3 , , 2.9 , , 17.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1988–89 , style="text-align:left;", Louisville , 31 , , 30 , , 32.7 , , .615 , , .000 , , .652 , , 8.7 , , 2.5 , , 1.3 , , 3.2 , , 17.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 136 , , 135 , , 31.9 , , .577 , , .333 , , .687 , , 8.4 , , 2.4 , , 1.3 , , 2.8 , , 15.8

NBA

Regular season

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

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, 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 is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, 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 the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

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

, 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 sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 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 silver medalists for the United States in basketball Sportspeople from Voorhees Township, New Jersey Basketball players from Camden County, New Jersey Sacramento Kings draft picks Sacramento Kings players Seattle SuperSonics players Washington Bullets players United States men's national basketball team players First overall NBA draft picks