Honorary Warriors For Life Induction Ceremony: Monta Ellis, plus open thread
As voted by the most dedicated Dub Nation HQers
The master list of Honorary Warriors For Life lists everyone already polled.
Monta Ellis was a dazzling, blazingly-fast taker and maker of tough shots. And the funnest thing to watch on the Warriors court between We Believe and The Dynasty. We discussed him thoroughly in this article:
which by the way Substack thinks is our #1 piece ever.
Our Guy Daniel wrote:
I recall a decade ago when face of the franchise Monta Ellis was sharing the court with bright-eyed rookie Stephen Curry. They were both 6-foot-3 combo guards whose strengths (scoring off the dribble) seemed redundant, while their combined lack of size made them a liability on the defensive end.
Back in that time, Curry showed flashes of promise that were derailed by perpetual ankle injuries. Ellis, no stranger to a major ankle injury himself, was one of the scant few remnants of the magical We Believe team that the organization systematically dismantled.
Apricot:
Monta was lightning fast and sometimes the only watchable player on the court. And he could make very difficult shots. But he also could make shots difficult.
Daniel adds:
“fun to watch on offense” wow way to undersell the man who has as many 40 point games as a Warrior as Kevin Durant!
Did you know that from the 1990 season until the 2020 season, the Warriors have had only four men average 25+ PPG for a season? Curry, Durant, Chris Mullin, and Monta freakin Ellis. Monta scored at volume that was historically rare for this franchise. He was the gunslinger who showed no fear against any opponent, which was pretty important for Warriors fans who were tired of being abused by the rest of the NBA.
He went shot for shot with a legend of legends in Kobe Bryant.
Monta was a gamer who was worth the price of admission, a man who refused to quit on the franchise like we had seen other players do (ahem, Stephen Jackson). The Warriors had failed to retain all the other good guards they had during the 2000s, so I perceived his exit as yet another Golden State plan prematurely ended.
There was something of a rivalry between Monta Ellis and Steph Curry, but possibly more in the public mind than between the players. Steph saved his last tribute to Oracle for Monta:
In part of All The Smoke, Steph talked about how Monta had been supportive of him even when they were seen as being in competition (starts around 4:00)
In the end, Monta Ellis was voted an Honorary Warrior For Life, as Dub Nation forgave Monta for the things he did that ticked us off, which I will not enumerate here (go look at the Worst Take Monta piece for details)
Monta Ellis. 82.3%
He handily makes the 75% threshold. Congratulations Monta, and thanks for the highlights!
By the way, if you missed out on our previous full discussion of Monta, you can catch up here: https://dubnationhq.com/p/my-worst-take-the-warriors-should
I wasn't watching NBA in the Monta era but it sounds like Ellis Island was the gateway to a lot of pre dynasty dubs fans