.jpg) Elie in 2008 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1963-11-26)November 26, 1963 (age 61) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Power Memorial (Manhattan, New York) |
| College | American International (1981–1985) |
| NBA draft | 1985: 7th round, 160th overall pick |
| Selected by theMilwaukee Bucks | |
| Playing career | 1986–2001 |
| Position | Shooting guard /small forward |
| Number | 8, 20, 17 |
| Coaching career | 2003–2016 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1986–1987 | Killester |
| 1987 | Miami Tropics |
| 1987 | Unión de Santa Fe |
| 1987–1989 | Ovarense |
| 1989 | Youngstown Pride |
| 1989–1991 | Albany Patroons |
| 1990–1991 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 1991–1992 | Golden State Warriors |
| 1992–1993 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1993–1998 | Houston Rockets |
| 1999–2000 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2000–2001 | Phoenix Suns |
| As coach: | |
| 2003–2004 | San Antonio Spurs (assistant) |
| 2004–2006 | Golden State Warriors (assistant) |
| 2007–2009 | Dallas Mavericks (assistant) |
| 2009–2011 | Sacramento Kings (assistant) |
| 2011–2013 | New Jersey / Brooklyn Nets (assistant) |
| 2015–2016 | Orlando Magic (assistant) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 6,265 (8.6 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 2,017 (2.8 rpg) |
| Assists | 1,875 (2.6 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Mario Antoine Elie (born November 26, 1963) is an American former professionalbasketballcoach and player in theNational Basketball Association (NBA). Elie grew up inNew York City and playedcollege basketball atAmerican International College, before being drafted in the seventh round of the1985 NBA draft as the 160th overall pick by theMilwaukee Bucks.
Elie began his professional basketball career withIreland'sKillester in 1986. He went on to play inPortugal andArgentina, as well as in theUSBL,CBA andWBL. Elie first played in the NBA in 1990 for thePhiladelphia 76ers and went on to play for theGolden State Warriors,Portland Trail Blazers,Houston Rockets,San Antonio Spurs andPhoenix Suns. A role player known for his defense and toughness, Elie won three NBA championships: two with the Rockets in1994 and1995, and one with the Spurs in1999.
Elie began his coaching career in 2003 as an assistant with the Spurs, and later held similar positions with theDallas Mavericks,Sacramento Kings,New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, andOrlando Magic.
Elie, who is ofHaitian heritage, was born and raised in theManhattan borough ofNew York City.[1][2] He was named "Mario" for opera singerMario Lanza.[3]
Elie attendedPower Memorial Academy. After being cut from the freshman basketball team, Elie made the junior varsity team the following season; one of his teammates was future NBA starChris Mullin.[3]
After Division I schools failed to recruit him, Elie played college basketball at the Division II level forAmerican International College inSpringfield, Massachusetts.[3] He led AIC to theNCAA Division II Tournament Quarter-Final[4] and became the school's all-time leading scorer.[3] He was selected with the 160th pick (out of 162 total) in the1985 NBA draft by theMilwaukee Bucks,[5] but was cut from the team during training camp.[6]
In 1986, Elie started his professional career in Ireland withKillester, where he won Player of the Year honors.[7] Elie played for theUSBL's Miami Tropics,[8] Elie played eight games in Argentina withUnión de Santa Fe.[9][10] He then spent two seasons in Portugal withOvarense, helping them win their first national title.[11] He spent two seasons with theAlbany Patroons of theContinental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1989 to 1991,[12] earning All-CBA First Team honors in 1991.[13]
In December 1990, he made hisNBA debut, joining thePhiladelphia 76ers on a 10-day contract.[14] He played three games for the 76ers between December 28 and January 2.[15] In February 1991, he joined theGolden State Warriors,[14] where he remained for the rest of the1990–91 season as well as the1991–92 season.[16] Elie spent the1992–93 season with thePortland Trail Blazers before being traded to theHouston Rockets prior to the1993–94 season.[16]
Elie won twoNBA championships with the Rockets, in1994 and1995.[3] During this period, Elie was dubbed the "Junkyard Dog" by his teammates.[6] One highlight of Elie's career came when he hit a game-winning three-pointer in Game 7 of the1995 Western Conference Semifinals against thePhoenix Suns to break a tie with 7.1 seconds. The shot is called the "Kiss of Death" by Rockets fans, as Elie made a taunting kissing gesture towards the Suns' bench after the shot.[17] While Elie was a key role player for the Rockets off the bench throughout the regular season and the playoffs, he became a starter in the1995 NBA Finals. This move paid off for the Rockets, as Elie averaged 16.3 points per game in the Finals while shooting 65% from the field.[18][19]
Elie played for the Rockets through the1997–98 season and then signed with theSan Antonio Spurs, where he played for two seasons.[20] The Spurs reportedly signed Elie in an effort to add "nastiness" to their team. Elie started for the Spurs for much of the season.[18] With Elie, the Spurs won their first-ever NBA championship in 1999.[21]
After playing the 2000–01 season for the Phoenix Suns,[16] Elie retired.[22] He finished his career with 6,265 points in 732 NBA games.[5]
In 2007, Elie was inducted into the New York Basketball Hall of Fame. He has been named one of the top ten players in Houston Rockets history.[23]
During his playing career, Elie was a role player who performed well in clutch situations.[24][6] He had a reputation as a tough defender, a fierce competitor,[3] and an accurate outside shooter.[20]
On September 28, 2007, Elie was hired by theDallas Mavericks as an assistantcoach.[25] He served with the Mavericks for one season. On June 22, 2009,Paul Westphal hired Elie as an assistantcoach for theSacramento Kings.[26] On December 8, 2011, Elie was added to former teammateAvery Johnson's coaching staff with theNew Jersey Nets.[27] On June 26, 2015, he was hired by theOrlando Magic as an assistant coach.[28]
Elie is married toGina Gaston, a journalist and anchorwoman for Houston's Channel ABC13. Elie and Gaston have triplets.[29][30][31]
Elie speaks four languages: English and French from growing up in a Haitian-Creole household, Portuguese from playing pro basketball in Portugal, and Spanish from playing in Argentina.[32]
In December 2010, Elie was arrested in Sacramento, California for allegedly driving while intoxicated.[33][34]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Won anNBA championship |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–91 | Philadelphia | 3 | 0 | 6.7 | .286 | .500 | .500 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| 1990–91 | Golden State | 30 | 0 | 20.8 | .507 | .375 | .500 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 7.7 |
| 1991–92 | Golden State | 79 | 32 | 21.2 | .521 | .329 | .852 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 7.8 |
| 1992–93 | Portland | 82 | 7 | 21.4 | .458 | .349 | .855 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 8.6 |
| 1993–94† | Houston | 67 | 8 | 24.0 | .446 | .355 | .860 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 9.3 |
| 1994–95† | Houston | 81 | 13 | 23.4 | .499 | .398 | .842 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 8.8 |
| 1995–96 | Houston | 45 | 16 | 30.8 | .504 | .323 | .852 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 11.1 |
| 1996–97 | Houston | 78 | 77 | 34.4 | .497 | .420 | .896 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 11.7 |
| 1997–98 | Houston | 73 | 59 | 27.2 | .452 | .291 | .833 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 8.4 |
| 1998–99† | San Antonio | 47 | 37 | 27.5 | .471 | .374 | .866 | 2.9 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 9.7 |
| 1999–00 | San Antonio | 79 | 79 | 28.1 | .427 | .398 | .846 | 3.2 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 7.5 |
| 2000–01 | Phoenix | 68 | 67 | 22.1 | .423 | .360 | .797 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 4.4 |
| Career | 732 | 395 | 25.5 | .473 | .365 | .854 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 8.6 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Golden State | 9 | 7 | 21.9 | .500 | 1.000 | .844 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 9.3 |
| 1992 | Golden State | 4 | 2 | 20.0 | .639 | 1.000 | .667 | 5.5 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 12.5 |
| 1993 | Portland | 4 | 0 | 13.0 | .500 | 1.000 | .889 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 5.0 |
| 1994† | Houston | 23 | 0 | 16.6 | .396 | .313 | .851 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 5.8 |
| 1995† | Houston | 22 | 6 | 28.9 | .504 | .431 | .795 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 9.1 |
| 1996 | Houston | 8 | 0 | 29.1 | .439 | .375 | .917 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 9.8 |
| 1997 | Houston | 16 | 16 | 37.4 | .466 | .400 | .839 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 11.5 |
| 1998 | Houston | 5 | 1 | 26.6 | .444 | .333 | .667 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 6.6 |
| 1999† | San Antonio | 17 | 17 | 30.9 | .384 | .267 | .837 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 7.9 |
| 2000 | San Antonio | 4 | 4 | 28.8 | .273 | .143 | .944 | 4.3 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 7.5 |
| 2001 | Phoenix | 4 | 4 | 25.8 | .452 | .154 | .750 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 9.0 |
| Career | 116 | 57 | 26.3 | .452 | .367 | .836 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 8.5 | |
and Basketball Reference