Pervis Ellison (born April 3, 1967) is an American formerNational Basketball Association (NBA) player. Nicknamed "Never Nervous Pervis" for his clutch play with theUniversity of Louisville, after leading Louisville to a national championship, Ellison was the first overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft. His professional career was largely hindered by injuries, though he won theNBA Most Improved Player Award in 1992.
At 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m), 242 lb (110 kg), he started all four years as thecenter under coachDenny Crum. In his freshman year he led Louisville to its secondnational championship, scoring a game-leading 25 points and adding 11 rebounds in the 72-69 championship win over Duke,[1] and was then named theMost Outstanding Player—the second time a freshman had ever been awarded that honor, afterArnie Ferrin in 1944 for Utah.
Ellison was made the first overall pick in the1989 NBA draft by theSacramento Kings. TeammateDanny 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 theWashington Bullets in a three-team trade involving theUtah Jazz that also sentJeff Malone to the Jazz andEric 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 theIndiana Pacers.[2] Although he sometimes played as a backup in1990–1991, 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 in1992–93 and 30 games in1993–94. Ellison signed with theBoston Celtics after he was released by Washington in April 1994, but did not play until midway through thefollowing 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 theSeattle SuperSonics in 2000 but retired after playing nine games. He once coached basketball for Life Center Academy inBurlington, New Jersey[3] and is a resident ofVoorhees Township, New Jersey.[4] His sonMalik played for him at Life Center Academy and is a professional basketball player.[5]
| 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 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985–86 | Louisville | 39 | 39 | 30.6 | .554 | – | .682 | 8.2 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 13.1 |
| 1986–87 | Louisville | 31 | 31 | 30.7 | .533 | – | .719 | 8.7 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 15.2 |
| 1987–88 | Louisville | 35 | 35 | 33.6 | .601 | .500 | .692 | 8.3 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 17.6 |
| 1988–89 | Louisville | 31 | 30 | 32.7 | .615 | .000 | .652 | 8.7 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 3.2 | 17.6 |
| Career | 136 | 135 | 31.9 | .577 | .333 | .687 | 8.4 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 15.8 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989–90 | Sacramento | 34 | 22 | 25.5 | .442 | .000 | .628 | 5.8 | 1.9 | .5 | 1.7 | 8.0 |
| 1990–91 | Washington | 76 | 30 | 25.6 | .513 | .000 | .650 | 7.7 | 1.3 | .6 | 2.1 | 10.4 |
| 1991–92 | Washington | 66 | 64 | 38.0 | .539 | .333 | .782 | 11.2 | 2.9 | .9 | 2.7 | 20.0 |
| 1992–93 | Washington | 49 | 48 | 34.7 | .521 | .000 | .702 | 8.8 | 2.4 | .9 | 2.2 | 17.4 |
| 1993–94 | Washington | 47 | 24 | 25.1 | .469 | .000 | .722 | 5.1 | 1.5 | .5 | 1.1 | 7.3 |
| 1994–95 | Boston | 55 | 11 | 19.7 | .507 | .000 | .717 | 5.6 | .6 | .4 | 1.0 | 6.8 |
| 1995–96 | Boston | 69 | 29 | 20.7 | .492 | — | .641 | 6.5 | .9 | .6 | 1.4 | 5.3 |
| 1996–97 | Boston | 6 | 4 | 20.8 | .375 | — | .600 | 4.3 | .7 | .8 | 1.5 | 2.5 |
| 1997–98 | Boston | 33 | 8 | 13.5 | .571 | — | .588 | 3.3 | .9 | .6 | .9 | 3.0 |
| 1999–2000 | Boston | 30 | 5 | 9.0 | .442 | — | .714 | 2.2 | .4 | .3 | .3 | 1.8 |
| 2000–01 | Seattle | 9 | 0 | 4.4 | .286 | — | 1.000 | 1.3 | .3 | .0 | .2 | .7 |
| Career | 474 | 245 | 24.5 | .520 | .050 | .689 | 6.7 | 1.5 | .6 | 1.6 | 9.5 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Boston | 4 | 0 | 17.0 | .579 | — | 1.000 | 4.3 | .5 | .5 | 1.3 | 6.0 |
· Basketball Reference 
