One Of The Best 3-Point Experts In NBA History - Dale Ellis

One of the most excellent "catch and shoot" basketball players of all time, Dale Ellis dropped many long distance bombs on opposing squads in the 1980s and 1990s.

When Dale Ellis entered the NBA in 1983 shooting from three point land was much less popular than it is now. The 3 point shot was introduced only a few seasons ago and it took some time for it to earn popularity. Dale Ellis was one of the first players who started using 3-pointer as one of his primary weapons.

Dale wasn't known as a shooter while playing for University of Tennessee but he always had the 3 point shot in his arsenal - he was bound to play center as a youngster because of his height. He spent 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. Throughout those two years only 3 players (World B Free, Bird and Hodges) hit more threes than Ellis.

In 1986 he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics and it turned out to be a career defining trade for him. He had suddenly converted 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. Surprisingly, Seattle went all the way to the Western Conference Finals after missing postseason the previous year.

Next 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 hit more than 100 threes but still he proved that he has become a much more versatile player - as few as 16% of his points came from threes. Sadly, SuperSonics got defeated by the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

1988-1989 was almost certainly his best season. He made his only All-Star game and won the 3-point contest. Just Micheal Jordan and Karl Malone averaged more points in 88-89 than Ellis (27.5 PPG). That season he made 162 3-pointers and had an outstanding 0.478 percentage 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 quite effective scorer in San Antonio shooting almost 50% from the field but he wasn't getting any younger.

Following these two seasons in San Antonio, when he was 34 years old, he signed with the Denver Nuggets. The majority of the players end their careers once in their mid-30s but Ellis quietly managed to compile a string of 3 solid 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. The bad side was he didn't shot very well - 0.414 from the field. Dale certainly fell in love with the three ball that season as he knocked down career best 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 away from his 40th anniversary but he was still good for 10 points every night.

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