Mario Elie

Mario Elie
Elie in 2008
Personal information
Born (1963-11-26) November 26, 1963
New York City, New York
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school Power Memorial Academy
(New York City, New York)
College American International (1981–1985)
NBA draft 1985 / Round: 7 / Pick: 160th overall
Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks
Playing career 1986–2001
Position Shooting guard / Small forward
Number 8, 20, 17
Coaching career 2003–present
Career history
As player:
1986–1987 Killester
1987 Miami Tropics
1987 Unión de Santa Fe
1987–1989 Ovarense
1989–1991 Albany Patroons
1990 Philadelphia 76ers
1991–1992 Golden State Warriors
1992–1993 Portland Trail Blazers
1993–1998 Houston Rockets
1998–2000 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
  • 3× NBA champion (1994, 1995, 1999)
  • Irish National Cup champion (1987)
  • Irish League Player of the Year (1987)
  • Portuguese National champion (1988)
  • Portuguese Supercup (1989)
  • Portuguese Cup (1989)
Career NBA statistics
Points 6,265 (8.6 ppg)
Rebounds 2,017 (2.8 rpg)
Assists 1,875 (2.6 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Mario Antoine Elie (born November 26, 1963) is an American basketball coach and former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Elie grew up in New York City and played college basketball at American International College. In the 1985 NBA draft, the Milwaukee Bucks drafted Elie in the seventh round as the 160th overall pick.

Elie began his professional basketball career in 1986 in the Irish Superleague, and later played elsewhere in Portugal, in Argentina, and in the CBA, the USBL, and the World Basketball League. Elie first played in the NBA in 1990 for the Philadelphia 76ers and went on to play for the Golden State Warriors, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Houston Rockets, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Phoenix Suns before retiring from the NBA in 2001. Elie won three NBA titles: two in 1994 and 1995 with the Rockets and one in 1999 with the Spurs.

Elie began his coaching career in 2003 as an assistant with the Spurs, and later held similar positions with the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, and the Orlando Magic.

Early life and career

Elie, who is of Haitian heritage, grew up in New York City. He was named "Mario" for opera singer Mario Lanza. His father died after Elie graduated from college. He had a brother named Clark, an amateur basketball player who died in a car accident in October 2009. He also has a sister named Nancy.

Elie attended Power Memorial Academy, where he played basketball alongside Chris Mullin under coach Steve Donohue. Elie played street ball in Central Park and other locations in New York City during the 1980s, trying and failing several times to get into the NBA. His nickname on the New York playgrounds was "The Jedi".

Elie played college basketball at American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts. Though Elie led AIC to their conference's first NCAA Division II Tournament Quarter-Final, he did not catch on in the NBA right away.[1] Elie was selected with the 160th pick (out of 162 total) in the 1985 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.[2] However, he was waived by the Bucks less than two months later.[3] He was also on the pre-season roster for the 1990–91 Los Angeles Lakers, but was waived before the season started.[3]

In 1986, Elie started his professional career at Killester in Ireland, where he won Player of the Year honors.[4] He later played in the Portuguese League with the Ovarense Aerosoles, and then played in the World Basketball League and with the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association. He also played briefly in the Argentine League, for Unión de Santa Fe.[5]

NBA career

In the 1990–91 season, Elie finally broke into the NBA, playing three games for the Philadelphia 76ers while on a 10-day contract.[3] He then spent the rest of the season with the Golden State Warriors, where he remained for the 1991–92 season. Elie spent the 1992–93 season with the Portland Trail Blazers before being traded to the Houston Rockets prior to the 1993–94 season.

Elie won two NBA championships with the Rockets, first in 1994 and again in 1995. During this period, Elie was dubbed "Super Mario" and "Junkyard Dog". One highlight of Elie's career came when he hit a clutch three-pointer in Game 7 of the 1995 Western Conference Semifinals against the Phoenix Suns to put the Rockets ahead 113–110 with 7.1 seconds left. The shot is called the "Kiss of Death" by Rockets fans, as Elie made a taunting kissing gesture towards the Suns' bench shortly after he made it.[6] 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 the 1995 NBA Finals. This move paid off for the Rockets, as Elie averaged 16.3 points per game in the Finals—almost double his regular season average—while shooting a stellar 64% from the field. He was also 8 for 14 (.571) from the three-point line, hitting 7 of 10 three-pointers in Games 3 and 4.[7]

Elie played for the Rockets through the 1997–98 season, and then signed with the San Antonio Spurs. He won a third NBA championship with the Spurs in 1999. After playing two seasons for San Antonio and playing the 2000–01 season for the Phoenix Suns, Elie retired. Elie finished his career with 6,265 points in 732 NBA games.[2]

In 2007, Elie was inducted into the New York Basketball Hall of Fame, and was named one of the top ten players in Houston Rockets history.

Coaching career

On September 28, 2007, Elie was hired by the Dallas Mavericks as an assistant coach.[8] He served with the Mavericks for one season.

On June 22, 2009, Paul Westphal hired Elie as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings.[9]

On December 8, 2011, Elie was added to former teammate Avery Johnson's coaching staff with the New Jersey Nets.[10]

On June 26, 2015, he was hired by the Orlando Magic as a new assistant coach.[11]

Personal life

Elie married Gina Gaston, a journalist and anchorwoman for Houston's KTRK-TV, while he was playing for the Phoenix Suns. He and his wife have triplets: Two boys and one girl. Glenn, Gaston, and Lauren. While Glenn and Gaston where handing out bucket to other teams Lauren played soccer.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  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
† Denotes seasons in which Elie won an NBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1990–91 Philadelphia 306.7.286.500.5000.30.30.00.02.0
1990–91 Golden State 30020.8.507.375.5003.61.50.60.37.7
1991–92 Golden State 793221.2.521.329.8522.92.20.90.27.8
1992–93 Portland 82721.4.458.349.8552.62.20.90.28.6
1993–94† Houston 67824.0.446.355.8602.73.10.70.19.3
1994–95† Houston 811323.4.499.398.8422.42.30.80.18.8
1995–96 Houston 451630.8.504.323.8523.43.11.00.211.1
1996–97 Houston 787734.4.497.420.8963.04.01.20.211.7
1997–98 Houston 735927.2.452.291.8332.13.01.10.18.4
1998–99† San Antonio 473727.5.471.374.8662.91.91.00.39.7
1999–00 San Antonio 797928.1.427.398.8463.22.40.90.17.5
2000–01 Phoenix 686722.1.423.360.7972.31.90.90.24.4
Career 73239525.5.473.365.8542.82.60.90.28.6

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1991 Golden State 9721.9.5001.000.8443.61.40.60.19.3
1992 Golden State 4220.0.6391.000.6675.52.51.30.012.5
1993 Portland 4013.0.5001.000.8891.51.00.50.35.0
1994† Houston 23016.6.396.313.8511.71.70.30.15.8
1995† Houston 22628.9.504.431.7952.82.51.00.09.1
1996 Houston 8029.1.439.375.9172.81.80.90.49.8
1997 Houston 161637.4.466.400.8393.53.80.90.311.5
1998 Houston 5126.6.444.333.6672.61.20.40.06.6
1999† San Antonio 171730.9.384.267.8373.52.91.30.17.9
2000 San Antonio 4428.8.273.143.9444.31.81.30.07.5
2001 Phoenix 4425.8.452.154.7503.31.80.80.39.0
Career 1165726.3.452.367.8362.92.30.80.18.5

References

  1. ↑ "The History of the Northeast-10 Conference". Northeast-10 Conference. Archived from the original on 15 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  2. 1 2 "1985 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Mario Elie NBA & ABA Statistics". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  4. ↑ We Got Game…The Golden Age of Irish Basketball
  5. ↑ Elie, nuevo asistente de San Antonio Spurs
  6. ↑ http://www.chron.com/sports/texas-sports-nation/article/Two-decades-later-Mario-Elie-s-kiss-still-10920820.php
  7. ↑ NBA.com: Mario Elie Bio Archived 2008-05-11 at the Wayback Machine., NBA.com, accessed June 11, 2008.
  8. ↑ Mavericks name Elie assistant coach
  9. ↑ Mario Elie among three new assistant coaches for Kings Archived 2009-06-26 at the Wayback Machine., NBA.com, accessed November 14, 2009.
  10. ↑ Nets add Carlesimo, Elie to Avery Johnson's coaching staff Archived 2015-10-14 at the Wayback Machine., NBA.com, accessed December 8, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Magic Name Griffin, Mathis, Elie and Henry Assistant Coaches". NBA.com. June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
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