LeRoy Ellis

LeRoy Ellis (March 10, 1940 – June 2, 2012) was an American basketball player.

Basketball career A 6'11" center from St. John's University, Ellis set the St. John's records for highest rebounding average in a season (16.5) and most rebounds in one game with 30. In his senior year, he received the 1962 Haggerty Award as the All-Metropolitan New York Division I men's college basketball player of the year.

Ellis was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round (8th pick overall) of the 1962 NBA draft. He played in 1,048 games over 14 seasons (1962–1976) in the NBA with the Lakers, Baltimore Bullets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Philadelphia 76ers, and was a member of the 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers championship team, which also won a then-record 69 games in the regular season, and recorded the longest winning streak in NBA history with 33 wins. The following season, Ellis was traded to the 76ers, who had an NBA-worst 73 losses in an 82-game season. and the leading rebounder, averaging 12.3 per game, the third-best average in the Blazers’ first three decades. He continued playing basketball long after his professional career ended, including being a part of several Senior Masters Games national championship teams in Portland.

Three of Ellis' children have gone on to play college basketball: his daughter Lisa played women's basketball for California State University, Long Beach and the University of Kentucky;

Ellis died of prostate cancer on June 2, 2012, at the age of 72.

Career statistics

NBA Source

Regular season Year Team GP GS MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG L.A. Lakers80* 20.4 .419 .658 6.5 .6 7.2 L.A. Lakers 78 18.7 .423 .659 6.4 .5 6.6 L.A. Lakers80* 25.3 .444 .697 8.2 .6 10.3 L.A. Lakers80* 27.7 .424 .727 9.2 .9 12.2 Baltimore81* 36.3 .425 .738 12.0 2.1 14.9 Baltimore 78 34.9 .475 .724 11.1 2.0 12.4 Baltimore 80 20.0 .435 .755 6.4 .9 7.2 Baltimore 72 16.2 .469 .741 5.2 .7 6.6 Portland 74 34.9 .443 .801 12.3 3.2 15.9 † L.A. Lakers 74 14.6 .460 .695 4.2 .6 4.6 L.A. Lakers 10 15.6 .275 .800 3.3 .3 2.6 Philadelphia 69 69 35.4 .441 .801 10.8 2.0 13.7 Philadelphia 81 81 35.0 .452 .750 11.0 2.3 1.1 1.1 9.9 Philadelphia 82 69 22.6 .461 .727 7.1 1.4 .5 .7 7.9 Philadelphia 29 13 16.9 .462 .607 4.2 .7 .6 .3 4.8Career 1,048 163 26.3 .442 .728 8.3 1.3 .8 .8 9.7

Playoffs Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 1963 L.A. Lakers13* 23.2 .509 .818 6.5 1.0 6.2 1964 L.A. Lakers 5 28.8 .296 .733 10.0 .8 5.4 1965 L.A. Lakers 11 36.8 .393 .677 12.1 .6 14.4 1966 L.A. Lakers 14 30.4 .406 .641 9.5 .6 9.8 1969 Baltimore 4 16.8 .500 .600 4.5 .4 4.8 1970 Baltimore 3 2.7 .000 1.000 1.0 .0 .7 1972† L.A. Lakers 13 10.3 .463 .250 3.2 .8 3.0 1976 Philadelphia 1 1.0 – – .0 .0 .0 .0 .0Career 64 23.2 .413 .693 7.2 .7 .0 .0 7.2