A former No. 1 overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft, "Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison entered the NBA with huge expectations following a standout college career at Louisville. Although he has shown flashes of brilliance, he has been hampered by injuries during an up-and-down NBA career and after 11 seasons has yet to live up to his lofty draft position. Ellison zoomed to national prominence as a college freshman in 1986, when he led Louisville to the NCAA title and was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Final Four. As a senior, he was selected to The Sporting News All-America Second Team after averaging 17.6 points and 8.7 rebounds. He left the school ranked third in NCAA history with 374 blocked shots, and he was the only player in Louisville annals to total more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. The 6-10 Ellison was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the first overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft. He began his rookie year on the injured list after undergoing surgery to remove bone spurs from his right foot and ankle in September. Upon returning he appeared in 34 games for the Kings and put up modest numbers. In the 1990 offseason the Kings traded Ellison to the Washington Bullets in a three-way deal with the Utah Jazz. Ellison upped his numbers in nearly every category for the Bullets in 1990-91. The next year, his third in the league, he showed that he was capable of living up to the heavy expectations that had followed him throughout his career. Ellison averaged team highs of 20.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.68 blocked shots that season, earning the NBA Most Improved Player Award for 1991-92. Knee problems kept him out of 33 games in 1992-93, but he still put up solid numbers, averaging 17.4 points and 8.8 rebounds. The knees kept him out of 35 games the following season, however, and his output plummeted. Ellison signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Boston Celtics prior to the 1994-95 campaign. Once again, knee problems took a bite out of his season, as he sat out the first 19 games of the year and was not a big factor for the club after his return. He stayed relatively healthy during his second season in Boston, appearing in 69 games and helping the Celtics with his rebounding and shotblocking. But he appeared in just six games in 1996-97 when he missed most of the season due to a fractured toe, and was limited to 33 games in 1997-98 due to knee and ankle injuries. He missed all of the 1998-99 campaign following surgery on his right ankle, and though he was healthy for most of the 1999-2000 campaign, he appeared in just 30 games. After six seasons in Boston, he has played in just 193 of a possible 460 games, just 42 percent, and only 69 of a possible 296 games, or 23 percent, the past four years.

1998-1999 REGULAR SEASON
Placed on the injured list on 2/4 after deltoid ligament repair in his right ankle

1997-1998 REGULAR SEASON
Placed on the injured list on 3/13 due to chronic synovitis in his right ankle and will be sidelined indefinitely On the injured list from 1/10 to 2/20 due to a sprained right ankle On the injured list from 12/21 to 1/2 due to left knee tendinitis Posted 6 points (3-3 FG), 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocked shots, in 16 minutes, in a 107-101 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on 11/15

1996-1997 REGULAR SEASON
After starting the first four games of the season, Ellison sat out two games, played two, then was sidelined for the remainder of the campaign after he suffered a fractured big right toe in a home accident. He scored seven points and grabbed 10 rebounds, both season-highs, on opening night against Chicago in a 107-98 loss. After playing three more games, he missed the next two due to a sore toe, played 15 minutes against Denver on Nov. 15 and seven minutes against Washington on Nov. 16, then sat out the remainder of the season. He averaged 2.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game in his six appearances.

1995-1996 REGULAR SEASON
Ellison started the season on the injured list and missed the Celtics' first five games due to a sore left knee. However, he stayed relatively healthy the rest of the year, missing only seven more games due to an assortment of injuries, and while his scoring average was a career-low 5.3 points per game, his 6.5 rebounds and 1.43 blocked shots per game were both second-highest on the team. And his 69 games played represented the second-highest total of his seven-year pro career. Ellison started 29 games for the Celtics and reached double figures in scoring eight times and rebounding 12 times. Ellison, who led the Celtics in rebounding 16 times, grabbed a season-high 20 rebounds and blocked six shots in a 121-116 overtime win over Charlotte on Feb. 28. That was the first of 12 consecutive starts in which he grabbed 116 rebounds, blocked 24 shots and scored 90 points in 345 minutes That was his most effective stretch of the season, but it ended when he sprained his right ankle and was forced to sit out three games. He came back strong, however, and had 18 points and 12 rebounds against Detroit on April 7, 23 points and 10 rebounds at New York on April 9 and 18 rebounds in 45 minutes at Detroit on April 14. The most active shotblocker on the Celtics, Ellison recorded at least one block in 18 straight games from Jan. 10 to Feb. 18. He had four blocks in the first quarter alone in a game against Indiana on Jan. 26. His season total of 99 blocks was the most on the Celtics, and while his average of 1.43 per game trailed teammate Dino Radja's 1.53, Ellison played 553 minutes less than Radja even though Radja appeared in 16 fewer games.

1994-1995 REGULAR SEASON
Ellison signed with the Boston Celtics as a free agent on August 1, 1994. He expected to see significant playing time at center and forward, but he began the season on the injured list as he tried to rehabilitate his chronically troublesome knees. He was activated on December 10 after missing 19 games. In his Celtics debut two days later, he scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against the Denver Nuggets. On December 15 he was sidelined for the first of two games as his knees acted up again. He returned to play a series of solid games in late December and early January, leading the club on the boards in five consecutive games beginning on December 19. On January 7 he scored a season-high 20 points while grabbing a dozen rebounds. That stretch of games proved to be his best of the year. He finished the season with a career-low mark of 6.8 points per game, and he averaged 5.6 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per contest. Ellison saw the first playoff action of his career as the Celtics snagged the final slot in the Eastern Conference. He came off the bench in all four games and averaged 6.0 points and 4.3 rebounds. He led the team with 10 rebounds in Game 3, but the Celtics lost their first-round matchup with the Orlando Magic in four games.

1993-1994 REGULAR SEASON
After having averaged 20.0 points only two years earlier, Ellison was hobbled by injuries for a second straight season. He missed the Washington Bullets first 15 games because of offseason surgery to remove cartilage in both knees, then missed the team s last 15 games with soreness in his right knee. In between, Ellison managed 47 appearances and career-low averages of 7.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. To add insult to injury, when he was healthy Ellison often came off the bench behind Don MacLean, who was on his way to winning the NBA Most Improved Player Award an honor Ellison had won in 1992. Ellison started 24 times in his 47 appearances. After the season he left Washington and signed as a free agent with the Boston Celtics.

1992-1993 REGULAR SEASON
Ellison was limited to 49 games this season, as he missed the final 28 contests because of a strained left knee, for which he underwent arthroscopic surgery in May. He nevertheless finished seventh in the league with a team-high 2.2 blocks per game. He averaged 17.4 points and 8.8 rebounds, shooting better than 50 percent (.521) for the third straight season. Ellison s best performances came in January. He nearly averaged a double-double during the month, scoring an average of 20.4 points and pulling down 9.8 rebounds per game. On February 26 he strained his left knee in a game against the Orlando Magic and was placed on the injured list. The injury didn t cause Ellison to miss any playoff action, for the Bullets finished at 22-60 and in last place in the Atlantic Division.

1991-1992 REGULAR SEASON
This was a breakthrough season for Ellison, who was voted the league s Most Improved Player. He led the Bullets in scoring (20.0 ppg), rebounding (11.2 rpg), and blocked shots (2.7 per game), displaying the star potential that had made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft. He tied a career high with 31 points in a January 3 game against the New Jersey Nets and pulled down 22 rebounds in an overtime contest versus the Indiana Pacers on January 14. He earned NBA Player of the Week honors for the week ending December 23 after averaging 23.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks in four road games. Ellison dunked the ball 9 times in a game against the Hawks in Atlanta on February 15 for an NBA season high. He scored in double figures in 60 games, including 33 games with at least 20 points and 7 with 30 or more. The Bullets nonetheless missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year, finishing with a 25-57 record and in sixth place in the Atlantic Division.

1990-1991 REGULAR SEASON
Sacramento traded Ellison to the Washington Bullets at the end of the 1989-90 season as part of a three-way deal with the Utah Jazz. In his first season with Washington, Ellison averaged 10.4 points and 7.7 rebounds in 76 games. He had a team-high 157 blocks, including a career-high 8 rebukes in a game against the Golden State Warriors on November 27. The East Coast didn t treat Ellison any better than the West Coast at least from a postseason standpoint as the Bullets finished with a 30-52 record and missed the playoffs for a third straight season.

1989-1990 REGULAR SEASON
Nicknamed Never Nervous, Pervis Ellison helped lead Louisville to the 1986 NCAA Championship and was named MVP of the Final Four in the process. He left school as the only Cardinal to total 2,000 career points (2,143) and 1,000 career rebounds (1,149), and at the time he ranked third on the NCAA s all-time blocked shots list with 374. The Sacramento Kings selected Ellison with the first overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft. His NBA debut was delayed by surgery in September to remove bone spurs in his right foot and ankle, and later because of tendinitis in his right big toe. It was an inauspicious beginning to a career that would be plagued by injuries. Ellison finally made his NBA debut in February and then started 21 straight games from March 1 to April 9. Overall, he averaged 8.0 points and 5.8 rebounds in 34 games. Ellison wasn t the only King to have a rough year. Sacramento finished with a 23-59 record and in the Pacific Division basement.

• Pervis and his wife Timi have three children, Seattle, Aja and Malik
• Earned a degree in criminal justice from Louisville
• Enjoys drawing, dancing and listening to jazz music
• Lists his dad, Arthur Ashe and Muhammad Ali as his heroes