Monta Ellis (pronounced "MON-tay", born October 26, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who plays the shooting guard and point guard positions for the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA. Ellis entered the 2005 NBA Draft after graduating from Lanier High School in Jackson, Mississippi, and the Warriors drafted him in the second round. He is known for his spectacular speed, earning him the nickname "The Mississippi Bullet/Missile" and also for being a prolific scorer, capable of making difficult shots. Contents 1 High school career 2 NBA career 2.1 Golden State Warriors 2.1.1 2006-07 season highlights 2.1.2 2007–08 season highlights 2.2 2008–09 season 2.3 2010–11 season 2.4 2011–12 season 3 NBA career statistics 3.1 Regular season 3.2 Playoffs 4 References 5 External links High school career This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsour! ced material may be challenged and removed . (June 2009) Ellis' attended Lanier High School in Jackson where he was named Parade Magazine High School Player of the Year 2005 (along with Greg Oden) and a USA Today All-American.[1] He had committed to Mississippi State University before opting for the NBA in 2005. He scored a career-best 72 points in a game against Greenwood High School. As a junior, he scored 42 points in a 80–75 loss against renowned high school basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy, then the #1-ranked prep-basketball team in the country by USA Today, and their star future-NBA forward, Josh Smith, in front of a capacity crowd at the Marshall County Hoopfest in Benton, KY. His 42 points was the most ever scored against Oak Hill by an opposing player. In his senior season he scored 42 points in a game against South Gwinnett High School in which he was guarded by Louis Williams, at the Coliseum. He led Lanier to a 129–16 record in his four sea! sons as a starter (2002–2005), winning the 4A state champion! ship in 2002 (33–5) and 2005 (35–2, ranked #12 nationally by USA Today) and runner-up finishes in 2003 (31–4) and 2004 (30–5). He scored a total of 4,167 points in his prep career, making him second all-time in Mississippi history. He received first-team all-state recognition from the Clarion-Ledger in all four of his high school seasons and was named Mississippi's "Mr. Basketball" by the paper in 2005.[2] NBA career Golden State Warriors Drafted by the Warriors in the second round (40th overall) in the 2005 NBA Draft, Ellis was inserted into the starting lineup late in the 2005–06 NBA season, along with fellow rookie Ike Diogu. He scored his first points on December 7, 2005 against the Phoenix Suns on a 3-point shot.[3] He was highly regarded as one of the players to watch during the 2006 summer league, but was unable to compete due to knee problems. After receiving very little playing time as a rookie, Ellis improved immensely coming into his second year and beg! an to show great potential. During the 2007 NBA Draft, the Warriors traded Jason Richardson and second-round draft pick Jermareo Davidson to the Charlotte Bobcats for lottery pick Brandan Wright. The trade freed up about 10 million dollars in salary cap space for the Warriors with which they could sign Ellis as well as fellow young star Andris Biedriņš to extended contracts[4][5] and allowed Ellis more time at the shooting guard spot. In his third season, Ellis became one of the Warriors' top performers, becoming a clutch player and pulling them through close games. On July 25, 2008, Ellis signed a six-year, $67 million contract extension with the Warriors, making him the highest paid player on the team.[6] 2006-07 season highlights On January 24, 2007, Ellis hit his first career game-winning shot as time expired to give the Warriors a 110–109 victory over the New Jersey Nets.[7] On January 31, he was selected to play in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge during the NBA's Al! l-Star weekend. He scored a dunk-filled 28 points in a win for the soph! omore team on 13 for 16 shooting. He was edged out by David Lee and Chris Paul for the game's MVP honors. On February 24, Ellis recorded a career-high 13 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers.[8] On April 26, he received the NBA's Most Improved Player Award after averaging 16.5 points per game, a substantial increase from his average of 6.8 points per game as a rookie, edging out Sacramento Kings shooting guard Kevin Martin by three votes and beating teammate Andris Biedriņš. Ellis's points-per-game average compared to the previous season (6.8 to 16.5), an increase of 9.7, beat out Martin's increase of 9.4 (10.8 to 20.2).[9] Monta Ellis was part of the rotation of the Warriors that beat the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs in a seven-game series, becoming the first eight-seeded team to beat a one-seeded team in a seven-game series. The Mavericks had the best record in the NBA and were tied 6th all time having a record of 67-15, but the Warri! ors as an eight-seeded team with a record of 42-40 beat the one-seeded team Mavericks 4-2 in the series. Monta Ellis and fellow teammate Andris Biedriņš are the only Warriors left on the squad that were part of the team that had upset of the Mavericks in the 2007 NBA Playoffs. However, the Warriors lost in the Western Conference Semi-finals to the Utah Jazz 4-1 2007–08 season highlights On January 24, 2008, Ellis scored 39 points (13-for-18 shooting from the field, 13-for-14 free-throw shooting) against the New Jersey Nets, exactly one year to-the-day of his first ever game-winning shot, which also came against the Nets.[10] Monta Ellis became the ninth guard in league history to average at least 20 points per game while averaging 60 percent from the field in a single month after making 60.2 percent of his shots in February, 2008. He was honored after the last game of the month by assistant coach Sidney Moncrief, one of the eight other players to achieve the feat; the o! ther guards to perform this feat were John Stockton, Ricky Pierce, Earl! Monroe, Jim Paxson, Fred Brown, Sidney Moncrief, Brad Davis, and Steve Nash.[11][12] Monta Ellis also scored over 30 points in the month of February for four games straight. Monta had a career-high average of shooting .531% from the field. 2008–09 season Ellis in action against the Phoenix Suns on March 15, 2009 On August 26, 2008, it was revealed that Ellis had torn a ligament in his left ankle. Ellis underwent successful surgery on August 27 to repair a torn deltoid ligament in his left ankle,[13] after he informed the club that he had injured himself working out. Warriors general manager Chris Mullin revealed through an interview that Ellis received his injury during a pick-up game in a gym within his hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. However, as was suspected during weeks of speculation, he was injured in a low-speed moped accident.[14] Because dangerous activity such as this violates Paragraph 12 of his player contract, the Warriors organization opted to suspend Ell! is for 30 games, the approximate number of games he expected to miss.[15][16][17] In addition, the Warriors maintained the option to void his contract in the event his recovery had been unsuccessful.[18] Initial reports stated that he would be out for at least three months from the date of his ankle surgery, although because of the suspension the earliest Ellis could play in a game was December 26.[19] Ellis returned from his injury on January 23 in a home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and scored 20 points with three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.[20] After starting slowly in February, Ellis took several games off, and showed marked improvement in March, during which he averaged 23.5 points per game, shooting 49% from the field and 87% from the free-throw line. Ellis opened the month of April by scoring 42 points, while also adding nine rebounds and nine assists in an overtime win against the Sacramento Kings.[21] 2010–11 season In July, prior t! o the 2010-2011 season, Monta married Juanika Amos Ellis in Memphis, Te! nnessee.[22] On October 27, 2010, Ellis recorded 46 points (18-of-24 FG, 1-of-2 3pt, 9-of-12 FT) with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in Golden State's 132-128 win over the Houston Rockets. On December 14, 2010, Ellis poured in 34 points on 13-of-24 shooting during the Warriors' 108-99 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.[23] On December 20, 2010, Ellis scored 44 points (15-of-20 FG, 3-of 4 3pt, 11-of-14 FT) with a rebound, 7 assists, 2 steals, and played 42 minutes despite a 112-121 loss at home vs. the Houston Rockets. Monta Ellis was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 20 - Dec. 26 while averaging 39.7 points, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Monta and the Golden State Warriors had 2 wins against the Sacramento Kings (117-109) on December 21, 2010 and the Portland Trail Blazers (109-102) on December 25, 2010, but 1 loss against the Houston Rockets (112-121) on December 20, 2010. On January 7, 2011, Ellis scored a game-high 32 points (10-of-21! FG, 4-of-5 3pt, 8-of-8 FT) with 10 assists, two rebounds, three steals and six turnovers in Golden State's win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.[23] The score was 116-98. On January 19, 2011, Ellis scored 36 points (16-of-28 FG, 2-of-3 3pt, 2-of-3 FT) with 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 4 turnovers in Golden State's 110-108 win over the Indiana Pacers. Monta made a game-winning jumper over Brandon Rush for the Warriors while going on an isolation play with Brandon Rush guarding him. On January 21, 2011, two days after he made a game-winning jumper, Monta made a jumper against the Sacramento Kings with Tyreke Evans guarding him to send the game to overtime. Monta finished with 28 points (12-of-29 FG, 1-of-6 3pt, 3-of-4 FT), 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, and a block despite having 7 turnovers. Monta played 49 minutes through
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