Monta Ellis has praised the Golden State Warriors fans and the support they gave him during the seven seasons he spent in the Bay. Ellis was the starting shooting guard and the leader of the Dubs at the start of the past decade, but things changed when Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson arrived at the Oracle Arena.
Ellis saw his future wasn’t with Golden State and requested a trade, getting shipped to the Milwaukee Bucks in the move that sent Stephen Jackson and Andrew Bogut to the Bay in 2012. Even though his relationship with the team didn’t end in the best terms, Ellis still remembers the good things he lived in Oakland, praising the fans in a recent interview with Slam Magazine.
Talking about a game-winning shot he nailed in 2007 against the New Jersey Nets, Ellis noted:
“I had done it numerous times even in high school. But it’s different when you do it in front of 18-20,000 people,” he said.
“I was in the Bay Area. When I say those were the best fans I’ve ever been a part of, those were the best fans I’ve ever been a part of. For me to hit that shot in that building in front of those fans, it was crazy. That time went crazy. From then on, they embraced me. That was my moment right there.”
After he left the Warriors, his career went down a spiral. His last played with the Indiana Pacers in the league before getting waived in 2017.
Ellis averaged 17.8 points, 4.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.7 steals during his 12-year tenure in the league, winning the Most Improved Player Award in 2007.
With the Warriors, he recorded 19.6 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.7 rebounds from 2005 through 2012.
