One Of The Most Amazing Three Point Shooters 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 squads during the 80s and 90s.

When Dale Ellis came into the league in 1983 shooting from three point land was not as popular than it is now. The 3 point shot was introduced only a few seasons ago and it took a while for it to achieve popularity. Dale Ellis was one of the first players who started using three ball as one of his primary weapons.

Dale wasn't recognized as a sniper while playing for University of Tennessee but he always had the 3 point shot in his ammunition dump - he had 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) knocked down more threes than Ellis.

In 1986 he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics and it turned out to be a career changing trade for him. He had suddenly turned into one of the league's top scorers as he averaged almost 25 PPG. It didn't come as a shock that he also won the NBA Most Improved Player Honor that season. Notably, Seattle went as far as the Western Conference Finals after missing playoffs 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 proved that he has become a much more versatile player - only 16% of his points came from threes. Unfortunately, SuperSonics got defeated by the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

1988-1989 was probably his finest season. He made his only All-Star game and won the 3-point competition. 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 excellent 0.478 rate 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 diminished 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 very effective scorer in San Antonio shooting nearly 50% from the field but he wasn't getting any younger.

After these two seasons in San Antonio, already 34 years old, he signed with the Denver Nuggets. Most of the players retire when in their mid-30s but Ellis quietly managed to put together a string of 3 decent seasons in Denver. In 1996-1997 he averaged almost 17 points every night and that was his second best scoring season since he parted ways with Seattle in 1990. However, he wasn't shooting very well - 0.414 from the field. Dale seriously fell in love with the three ball that season as he knocked down career high 192 3-pointers.

In the twilight of his career, Ellis returned to Seattle to play there for two seasons. Dale was just a couple of years removed from his 40th anniversary but he was still good for 10 points every night.