Mario Elie

Mario Elie

No. 8, 20, 17
Shooting guard / Small forward
Personal information
Born	November 26, 1963 (1963-11-26) New York City, New York
Nationality	American
High school	Power Memorial Academy (New York City, New York)
Listed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight	210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
College	American International (1981–1985)
NBA Draft	1985 / Round: 7 / Pick: 160th overall
Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks
Pro career	1986–2001
Career history
1986	Dart Killester (Ireland)
1987	Miami Tropics (USBL)
1987	Unión de Santa Fe (Argentina)
1987–1989	Ovarense (Portugal)
1991	Albany Patroons (CBA)
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
Career highlights and awards
3× NBA Champion (1994–1995, 1999)
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 at Basketball-Reference.com

Mario Antoine Elie (born November 26, 1963 in New York City) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Currently, he works as an assistant coach for the New Jersey Nets.

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 (same high school as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), where he was a teammate of 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".

He played college basketball at American International College in Springfield, MA. Though Elie led AIC to their conference's first NCAA Division II Tournament Quarter-Final, he was at first overlooked by NBA teams. Elie was selected with the 160th pick (out of 162 total) in the 1985 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. However, he was waived by the Bucks less than two months later. He was also on the pre-season roster for the 1990-91 Los Angeles Lakers, but was waived before the season started.

Eventually he played in Europe, most notably in the Portuguese League with the Ovarense Aerosoles, then in the World Basketball League, and also spent two years in the Continental Basketball Association with the Albany Patroons. In 1987 he played for Dart Killester in Ireland. He also played in the Argentine League, for Unión de Santa Fe.

NBA career

Later in the 1990-91 season, Elie finally broke into the NBA, playing three games for the Philadelphia 76ers, while on a 10-day contract. He then spent the rest of the season with the Golden State Warriors, and also remained a Warrior in 1991-92. 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 2 NBA championships with the Rockets, first in 1994 and again in 1995, making some incredible three-point field goals and getting the nicknames Super Mario and Junkyard Dog.

The highlight of Elie's career came when he hit a clutch 3 in Game 7 of the 1995 Western Conference Semifinals against the Phoenix Suns to put the Rockets up 113-110 with 7.1 seconds to play. The shot is called the Kiss of Death by Houston fans, as Elie made a taunting kissing gesture towards the Suns' bench shortly after the shot was made.

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 paid off for the Rockets, as he averaged 16.3 points per game, almost double his regular season average, while shooting a stellar 24 for 37 from the field (.649). He was also 8 for 14 (.571) from the three-point line, hitting 7 of 10 three-pointers in Games 3 and 4.

Elie played for the Rockets through the 1997-98 season, when he was signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs. He won a third NBA championship when he was part of the Spurs' championship team in 1999.

After playing two seasons for San Antonio, then the 2000-01 season for the Phoenix Suns, he retired. Elie finished with 6,265 points in 732 career NBA games. The 72 players selected before him in the 1985 NBA Draft played a combined 421 games.

In 2007, Elie was inducted into the New York Basketball Hall of Fame.

Coaching career

On September 28, 2007, Elie was hired by the Dallas Mavericks as an assistant coach. He served with the Mavericks for one season. On June 22, 2009, Paul Westphal hired Elie as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings. On December 8, 2011, Elie was added to former teammate Avery Johnson's coaching staff with the New Jersey Nets.

Personal life

Elie married Gina Gaston, a journalist and anchorwoman for Houston's KTRK-TV, while playing for the Suns. He and his wife have triplets; two boys and one girl.

External links

• ClutchFans.net Mario Elie Profile @ Houston Rocket Fan Site
• Basketball-Reference.com: Mario Elie