Pervis Ellison

At {{height|ft=6|in=9}}, {{convert|242|lb|abbr=on}}, 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,{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1986-03-31-duke.html|title=Louisville vs. Duke Box Score (Men), March 31, 1986|website=College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com}} 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.

Ellison was made the first overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. Teammate Danny Ainge 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 in a three-team trade involving the Utah Jazz 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.{{cite news |title=PACERS CLOSE PLAYOFFS TO BULLETS |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1991/04/06/pacers-close-playoffs-to-bullets/577c2570-fe11-4374-a481-5e15754d760e/}} 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 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{{cite web |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phil-anastasia/?month=6&year=2011 |title=Jersey Side Sports |website=www.philly.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020002401/http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phil-anastasia/?month=6&year=2011 |archive-date=2011-10-20}} and is a resident of Voorhees Township, New Jersey.Schwartz, Erik. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121105012857/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courierpostonline/access/1776232671.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+15,+2005&author=ERIK+SCHWARTZ&pub=Courier+Post&desc=Basketball+tournament+to+honor+slaying+victim&pqatl=google "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 played for him at Life Center Academy and is a professional basketball player.{{cite news |title=Catching Up With.....Malik Ellison |url=https://savannahherald.net/catching-up-withmalik-ellison-p9972-93.htm |access-date=October 6, 2021 |work=Savannah Herald |date=May 6, 2016}}

{{NBA player statistics legend}}

{{NBA player statistics start}}

|-

| 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

{{S-end}}

{{NBA player statistics start}}

|-

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1989}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Sacramento

| 34 || 22 || 25.5 || .442 || .000 || .628 || 5.8 || 1.9 || .5 || 1.7 || 8.0

|-

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1990}}

| 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;"|{{nbay|1991}}

| 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;"|{{nbay|1992}}

| 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;"|{{nbay|1993}}

| 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;"|{{nbay|1994}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Boston

| 55 || 11 || 19.7 || .507 || .000 || .717 || 5.6 || .6 || .4 || 1.0 || 6.8

|-

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1995}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Boston

| 69 || 29 || 20.7 || .492 || {{sort|-|—}} || .641 || 6.5 || .9 || .6 || 1.4 || 5.3

|-

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1996}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Boston

| 6 || 4 || 20.8 || .375 || {{sort|-|—}} || .600 || 4.3 || .7 || .8 || 1.5 || 2.5

|-

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1997}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Boston

| 33 || 8 || 13.5 || .571 || {{sort|-|—}} || .588 || 3.3 || .9 || .6 || .9 || 3.0

|-

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1999}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Boston

| 30 || 5 || 9.0 || .442 || {{sort|-|—}} || .714 || 2.2 || .4 || .3 || .3 || 1.8

|-

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|2000}}

|style="text-align:left;"|Seattle

| 9 || 0 || 4.4 || .286 || {{sort|-|—}} || 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

{{s-end}}

{{NBA player statistics start}}

|-

| style="text-align:left;"|1995

| style="text-align:left;"|Boston

| 4 || 0 || 17.0 || .579 || {{sort|-|—}} || 1.000 || 4.3 || .5 || .5 || 1.3 || 6.0

{{s-end}}

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds

{{reflist}}

{{basketballstats}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, Pervis}}

Category:1967 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen

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Category:All-American college men's basketball players

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