Monta Ellis

Monta Ellis (born October 26, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player.

Ellis attended Lanier High School in Jackson, Mississippi, where he was a McDonald's All-American and first-team Parade All-American.

Ellis led Lanier to a 129–16 record in his four seasons as a starter, winning the 4A state championship in both 2002 (33–5) and 2005 and runner-up finishes in 2003 (31–4) and 2004 (30–5).

He finished ranked second in state history with 4,167 points, good for 28.7 points per game.

Ellis originally committed to Mississippi State University, but later decided to enter the NBA draft.

As a senior in 2004–05, at 19 years old, Ellis led Lanier to its second state crown in four years, averaging 38.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 4.5 steals per game for a team that finished 35–2 and No. 3 in the FAB 50 national rankings.

During his senior season, Ellis scored 65 points against Greenwood.

The schools met again later that season, where Ellis had 72 points, a mark tied for second on the all-time state charts.

He also had 46 points against Oak Hill Academy.

He entered the NBA directly out of high school, being drafted with the 40th overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2005 NBA draft.

For his efforts, Ellis was named 2005 EA SPORTS National Player of the Year and Parade co-Player of the Year with Greg Oden.

Ellis was selected with the 40th overall pick (second round) in the 2005 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors.

He appeared in 46 games as a rookie and made three starts, with all three coming over the last four games of the season.

He averaged 6.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 18.1 minutes per game.

In the Warriors' season finale on April 19, 2006, Ellis scored a season-high 27 points as Golden State lost 105–102 to the Utah Jazz.

Ellis averaged 16.5 points, 4.1 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 2006–07, helping the Warriors return to the playoffs after a 12-year absence.

Ellis increased his scoring by 9.7 points from his rookie season, the largest increase in the NBA.

Starting 53 of the 77 games he appeared in, Ellis reached double figures in scoring 68 times, including 24 games of 20 or more points.

He scored a season-high 31 points three times, twice in November and once in March.

On February 24, Ellis recorded a career-high 13 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers.

In 2007, he was named the NBA Most Improved Player.

During his time with the Warriors, Ellis was one of the best scorers in the league, averaging close to 25 points per game on two occasions.

He recorded three or more steals 20 times and had at least five steals three times, including a career-high six against the Seattle SuperSonics on March 17, 2007.

He was subsequently named the NBA Most Improved Player.

In May, he helped the Warriors defeat the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the first round of the playoffs, becoming the first No. 8 seed to capture a best-of-seven playoff series.

The Warriors went on to lose in five games to the Utah Jazz in the second round.

Ellis averaged a career-high 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.53 steals in 37.9 minutes in 81 games during the 2007–08 season.

On July 24, 2008, Ellis re-signed with the Warriors to a six-year, $66 million contract.

However, in August, he was sidelined for three-plus months after suffering a Grade 3 high ankle sprain, a torn deltoid ligament and a syndesmosis disruption of his left ankle that required surgery.

The injuries occurred in a motorized scooter accident, but his mistake was compounded by telling the Warriors he hurt himself playing pickup ball in his native Mississippi, only coming clean about the accident several days later.

As a result, he was suspended by the Warriors for 30 games without pay—the approximate number of games he was expected to miss with the injury anyway.

Ellis made his season debut on January 23, 2009, scoring 20 points in a 106–105 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On March 11 against the New Jersey Nets, Ellis returned to the line-up after missing seven games to attend to a family emergency.

On April 1, he scored a career-high 42 points to go with nine rebounds and nine assists in a 143–141 overtime win over the Sacramento Kings.

After six and a half seasons with Golden State, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in March 2012.

A season and a half with the Bucks was followed by two seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and two seasons with the Indiana Pacers.

Ellis attended Lanier High School in Jackson, Mississippi.

He ranked 14th in the NBA in field goal percentage (.531, 3rd among all guards), 15th in steals and 25th in scoring.

He became only the ninth guard in NBA history to shoot 60% from the floor for an entire month in February (.602).

He scored a career-high 39 points on January 24 against the New Jersey Nets and scored 30-plus points on 12 occasions overall.