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One Of The Most Excellent 3-Point Masters In The History Of NBA - Dale Ellis
One of the top-notch "catch and shoot" basketball players of all time, Dale Ellis dropped countless long distance bombs on opposing teams in the 80s and 90s.
When Dale Ellis came into the NBA in 1983 shooting from three point land was way less popular than it is now. The 3 point shot was introduced only a few years ago and it took a while for it to earn popularity. Dale Ellis was one of the first players who started using 3-pointer as one of his primary weapons.
Dale wasn't known as a sniper while playing for University of Tennessee but he always had the 3 point shot in his arsenal - he was bound to play center as a youngster because of his height. He played his first 3 seasons in Dallas and never averaged more than 10 points per game. In his 2nd and 3rd season he combined for 1175 points and 315 of them came from 3-point shots. In those two years only 3 players (World B Free, Bird and Hodges) hit more threes than Ellis.
In 1986 he was dealt to the Seattle SuperSonics and it turned out to be a career defining deal for him. He had suddenly converted into one of the league's top scorers as he averaged almost 25 PPG. It didn't come as a stagger that he also won the NBA Most Improved Player Award that season. Notably, Seattle went all the way to the Western Conference Finals after missing postseason the previous year.
Following season Ellis was one of three Seattle players who averaged more than 20 points (Ellis at 25.8 ppg, McDaniel at 21.4, and Chambers at 20.4). It was the first season when Dale made more than 100 threes but still he demonstrated that he has become a much more versatile player - only 16% of his points came from threes. Sadly, SuperSonics lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
1988-1989 was quite likely his best season. He made his only All-Star game and won the 3-point contest. Just Micheal Jordan and Karl Malone averaged more points in 88-89 than Ellis (27.5 PPG). That season he made 162 3-pointers while having an outstanding 0.478 percentage from behind the 3-point line. Sonics made it to the second round of the playoffs in 1989.
He played only 55 games in the next season and then he was traded to Milwaukee. Dale's playing time was significantly downsized there but it was still solid - not far from 30 minutes per game. His minutes went up again when he was playing for the San Antonio Spurs from 1992 to 1994. Dale was a pretty effective scorer in San Antonio shooting just about 50% from the field but he wasn't getting any younger.
After these two seasons in San Antonio, at age 34, he signed with the Denver Nuggets. The majority of the players retire once in their mid-30s but Ellis however managed to compile a string of 3 solid seasons in Denver. In 1996-1997 he averaged almost 17 points every night and that was his second best scoring season since leaving Seattle in 1990. The bad side was he wasn't shooting very well - 0.414 from the field. Dale truly fell in love with the three ball that season as he knocked down career high 192 3-pointers.
In the end of his career, Ellis returned to Seattle to play there for two seasons. Dale was just a couple of years away from his 40th anniversary but he was still good for 10 points night in and night out.
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