Monta Ellis Era delayed

[Kidd Karma]

Ellis to have ankle surgery, out 3 months....delaying his start as the team's new point guard.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3556108

[Underdog]

Nothing funny about his injury, but to Golden State fans:




GREAT OFFSEASON!!!!!!!!

[BGMaverick9]

Wow, that sucks for them. Early payoff on THAT investment...

[ty]

GS giving up Baron in light of Monta is kinda like Dallas giving up Dirk in light of Bass.

[alby]

That sucks for GS, it's not like they were a playoff team anyways. Monta will be back and will most likely be putting up monster numbers this year.

[BGMaverick9]

Originally Posted by alby

That sucks for GS, it's not like they were a playoff team anyways. Monta will be back and will most likely be putting up monster numbers this year.

Yeah but like you said, this really puts a strangle hold on them and their chances get even worse. Playing 500 ball won't be enough to hold down the fort while he is out.

[Kidd Karma]

Big question on whether he can convert to the PG spot, added Marcus Williams, probably in the market for a cheap fix now.......this actually may push Ellis to the 2 guard spot for this season since he won't get camp at the point spot...then again in Nellie's offense it's just all about finding the open shooter.

[Dtownsfinest]

Originally Posted by ty

GS giving up Baron in light of Monta is kinda like Dallas giving up Dirk in light of Bass.

Whoa what? Have you seen Monta Ellis play? Especially last season? You show me how many 22 year olds in the history of the NBA who have put up 20 points per game on 53% shooting from the field? Maybe you're thinking of him a season ago when we faced them in the 1st round and he had a bad 1st round against us? Monta Ellis could've been an all star last season lol. Nothing against Bass because I think there's potential there but Baron Davis isn't too far ahead of Ellis at this point.

[MavsFanFinley]

This news sucks. One of my favorite players and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Not sure what GS can do in the short term.

[mac222b]

I'm a Mavs fan but it's hard to root against Monta Ellis. He's like a modern Andrew Toney, only without the defense.

[quietsavant]

[Hadean ERA][PRECAMBRIAN ERA][PALEOZOIC ERA][MEZOIC|jurassic/Ellis Period extinction]

[MavsX]

Originally Posted by quietsavant

[Hadean ERA][PRECAMBRIAN ERA][PALEOZOIC ERA][MEZOIC|jurassic/Ellis Period extinction]

wat

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Three months isn't that long folks if that is indeed the actual prognosis.

If he comes back by early December then there isn't that much to celebrate about.

[Dtownsfinest]

Three month's from now how many games would've been played 5-10 games? Not much at all.

[EricaLubarsky]

Exactly. Three months from today is preseason and 15 games and players regularly come back earlier than expected.

[BGMaverick9]

True...but you know for sure every game counted last year when you're looking from 1-8 or 9 in terms of seeding.

I doubt that will be any different this year.

[EricaLubarsky]

I hate to say it but I highly doubt Golden State will contend for a playoff spot this year.

[BGMaverick9]

You just never know until the season really gets going. We are all about our team and WE don't even really know what to expect. We just have to let it play out and see what happens. It's not a good thing though to be down a major contributor. You can't expect a repeat of the Rockets performance minus Yao all the time.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

You can't expect a repeat of the Rockets performance minus Yao all the time.

True - sometimes it's Tmac who's injured...

[BGMaverick9]

well played sir...well played

[alby]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3567032

----

Questions about how Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis sustained a serious ankle injury are only getting louder.

Multiple league sources have told ESPN.com that Ellis had several cuts and abrasions on his leg -- atypical of an injury sustained on a basketball court -- in addition to the high ankle sprain and torn deltoid ligament he suffered on Aug. 21.

The Contra Costa Times had earlier reported that the severity of the injury has the Warriors skeptical about the explanation they received from Ellis, who told the club he got hurt working out in his native Mississippi.

Ellis has not spoken publicly since his injury was revealed Wednesday and his agent, Jeff Fried, declined comment when reached by ESPN.com.

Just over a month after receiving one of the biggest pay raises in NBA history, Ellis underwent ankle surgery to repair the torn ligament last Wednesday in Alabama and will likely be sidelined until December at the earliest.

Two experts in sports medicine consulted by ESPN.com, granted anonymity because they aren't privy to the specifics of Ellis' condition, said that a torn deltoid ligament is rarely seen in basketball. The deltoid ligament, the sources explained, is on the medial (big toe) side of the ankle while the structures typically involved in a high ankle sprain are on the opposite (lateral) side of the ankle. Involvement of the deltoid suggests a more serious rotational injury than those commonly associated with the NBA, the sources said.

In a conference call last week with local reporters, Warriors executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin said that Ellis informed the club that he injured himself playing pickup ball, but Mullin acknowledged that the details were unclear.

The Warriors have declined further comment beyond refuting part of the Contra Costa Times' Saturday report, which said that the team's athletic trainer, Tom Abdenour, had been dispatched to Mississippi to further examine Ellis. Abdenour, according to the team, is in South Africa as part of the NBA's annual Basketball Without Borders camps.

If Ellis is found to have sustained his injuries by taking part in non-basketball activities prohibited in his contract, Golden State could theoretically attempt to void the new six-year, $66 million deal signed by the 22-year-old on July 24. But such a drastic step is considered highly unlikely as long as the injuries cause no lasting damage, given Ellis' standing as perhaps Golden State's most prized asset in the wake of Baron Davis' free-agent defection to the Los Angeles Clippers.

The more likely punishments -- assuming Ellis makes a full recovery from his injuries -- are a fine or, at worst, a suspension.

A similar scenario played out in the 2006-07 season when Los Angeles Lakers forward Vladimir Radmanovic admitted to suffering a separated shoulder while snowboarding in Utah during the All-Star break, some five days after initially telling the Lakers that he slipped on an icy street while carrying a coffee. Radmanovic was fined $500,000, nearly 10 percent of his 2007-08 salary of $5.6 million.

Ellis' new contract calls for him to earn a flat $11 million in each of the next six seasons. That's after Ellis made $770,610 last season to complete a modest three-year deal he received as a second-round pick in 2005.

The 6-foot-3 guard earned that huge bump by averaging 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists last season, after winning NBA Most Improved Player honors in the 2006-07 season when he averaged 16.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists. Ellis seemed to understand his importance to the team's post-Davis future when he shared at a news conference in late July that Davis recently "told me it was time to hand over the torch."

It's been a difficult offseason for the Warriors, starting with Davis' verbal commitment to sign with his hometown Clippers on the very first day of free agency. The solace for Golden State is that Ellis has a history of making strong, fast recoveries from major injuries.

Despite a decorated high school career, Ellis slipped to No. 40 in the 2005 draft, largely because of a knee problem that scared teams off. But he has since proven more productive in the NBA than any of the 10 players drafted out of high school that year, which was the last time high school players were eligible to be selected. That group includes No. 6 overall pick Martell Webster (Portland), No. 10 Andrew Bynum (Los Angeles Lakers) and No. 18 Gerald Green (drafted by Boston, now with Dallas).

Ellis also suffered what initially appeared to be a serious knee injury during a summer-league practice in 2006, then endured a scary fall early in training camp last October that resulted in a neck sprain and required him to be immobilized and carted off the court. In both cases, though, Ellis missed minimal time. He appeared in 77 and 81 games, respectively, after the two injuries.Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here.

[EricaLubarsky]

Monta Admits He Lied

http://www.contracostatimes.com/warr...nclick_check=1
The saga surrounding the left ankle of Warriors guard Monta Ellis has taken a step toward a conclusion. The Contra Costa Times has learned that Ellis has admitted to the Warriors that he wasn't truthful about how he hurt his ankle, and the two sides are in talks about how to put the situation behind them.

According to a team source, the Warriors now know that Ellis' ankle injury _ which was repaired during surgery on Aug. 27 _ was not sustained "in a gym," and "it happened out doors and not while playing basketball."

The source did not reveal what Ellis told Warriors management he was doing when he got hurt, only that he "was scared to tell the truth at first," but eventually did.

At first, Ellis told the team he was working out in Jackson, Miss., when he injured his ankle on Aug. 21, tearing a deltoid ligament and suffering a severe high ankle sprain. But he has been in regular communication with Chris Mullin, the executive vice president of basketball operations, with whom Ellis has a close relationship.

The team can fine and/or suspend Ellis if he injured his ankle by participating in a prohibited activity, such as motorcycle riding or snowboarding. Should he somehow not be able to play again, the Warriors could terminate the six-year, $66 million contract they signed Ellis to in July.

Ellis will be out for a minimum of three months.

[MavsX]

so what was he doing?

did he slip on a mcdonalds bag and fly into the TV?

[dirt_dobber]

Warriors' Ellis was hurt in moped accident
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...SP21134ADN.DTL
Janny Hu, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, September 25, 2008

Monta Ellis was riding a moped when he severely injured his left ankle last month in his native Jackson, Miss., sources close to the Warriors guard told The Chronicle on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old tore a deltoid ligament in his ankle and sustained a high-ankle sprain in what one of the sources labeled a "low-speed" accident. Ellis underwent surgery Aug. 27 and is expected to be sidelined for at least another two months.

The cause of Ellis' injury was unclear, even to Golden State officials, immediately after he hurt himself in late August. He initially told vice president Chris Mullin the injury occurred during a pickup basketball game, before coming clean about the moped mishap.

The team has not decided how to punish Ellis for violating the terms of his new six-year, $66 million deal by participating in a banned activity and trying to cover it up.

Since riding a moped is prohibited under the uniform player contract, the Warriors could move to terminate Ellis' deal, though such a move seems highly unlikely.

A possible punishment for Ellis is a heavy fine or suspension. It's also possible the Warriors will let Ellis off the hook completely, chalking the incident up to the youngster's maturation process.

The Lakers faced a similar situation two seasons ago when forward Vladimir Radmanovic separated his shoulder in a snowboarding accident in Park City, Utah. Radmanovic, who initially said he slipped on a patch of ice, missed about two months and was fined $500,000, or roughly one-tenth of his salary.

The sources added that no final Warriors decision on Ellis is expected until next week after the two sides work through the situation. Ellis has been going back and forth between Mississippi and Birmingham, Ala., where his surgery took place.

Ellis won't be with the team Friday, when players gather for their annual media-day festivities. The team expects Ellis to arrive in Oakland sometime early in training camp, pending medical approval.

The Warriors had no comment. Ellis' agent, Jeff Fried, also declined to comment.

Beginning Saturday, the Warriors will hold two-a-day practices for the next week at their downtown Oakland facility. This year's edition of roster hopefuls includes rookie guards DeMarcus Nelson and Anthony Morrow and forwards Dion Dowell and Rob Kurz.

[alby]

if he did that riding a moped, imagine what would have happened if he was on a crotch rocket

[dirt_dobber]

I keep hearing expectations that Monte will miss approx. 2-3 months.
Thus far the Warriors have said they aren't going to punish him, but they laid
out a lot of cash for him ($66mil) and if this season is a bust they may decide to terminate
him.

The NBA insurance payoff is such that if a player misses >45 games the
policy will cover 80% of salary.

-But-

You would think that the insurance company would say that he violated his contract
and therefore doesn't have to pay.

This is going to get interesting. What an idiot.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by alby

if he did that riding a moped, imagine what would have happened if he was on a crotch rocket

He was doing tricks, handstands and riding wheelies and burnouts and such..

[dirt_dobber]

Warriors owner must be careful
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...SPG5135ISB.DTL

Hidden amid all the Monta Ellis hoop-de-blah is another quieter truth floating at the edges of the Warriors' upcoming season, namely this:

The Mullin-Nelson Era is working on its last year, and the fact is that the Ellis issue is linked to the Mullin-Nelson thing.

For the record, both vice president Chris Mullin and head coach Don Nelson are working on the final year of their contracts. Neither has begun talks with owner Chris Cohan or his right-hand man Bobby Rowell on a new one, and neither seems terribly bothered about that, at least not outwardly.

But the problem of Ellis' punishment for mopedding his six-year, $66 million contract into jeopardy impacts Mullin and Nelson, because it seems clear that Cohan and Rowell want to make Ellis a bigger issue than Mullin and Nelson do, and if they aren't incredibly deft at getting their point across without alienating Ellis, they will have lost the face of their franchise over a principle that can be solved in any number of other and more creative ways.

And they will have forced the two men who gave them their only real taste of good times into the position of starting over, an unappealing prospect under normal circumstances, and unnecessarily so this time.

The statement Rowell issued Thursday made the club's intention clear - they would "gather all the pertinent facts and information," and "have scheduled a meeting with Monta's representatives to take place within the next 7 to 10 days."

In other words, they want to make this a big deal. At least a bigger deal than either Nelson or Mullin seem to want to.

For the record, neither Mullin nor Nelson wanted to touch the Ellis issue Thursday in their back-to-back media chats. They know that this is a hot button issue for Cohan and Rowell, and they are getting out of the way for simple prudence.

But they are also deeply invested. They need Ellis happy, focused and healthy when he returns, rather than resentful and less committed to the franchise than he was when he signed the deal. Starting over again is not an option. At least not a sensible one.

So even if Cohan and Rowell think Ellis needs a lesson in contract law, the fact that they have waited so long to publicly address a problem they've had for nearly a month, and still haven't even met with Ellis' agent to deal with the issue, suggests that they've been stewing over this too long already.

And that puts Mullin and Nelson in an even bigger jackpot than the one Ellis put them in when he decided to go motorbikin'. They need not only a playoff season, but one without the stresses and strains that come from a recalcitrant star, or from an unhappy owner. Because if this goes badly, and there are more ways for it to go badly by seeking out vengeance on Ellis, Cohan will not go quietly into the 2009-10 season. People will have to answer for this year, and the two handiest targets are Mullin and Nelson.

Nelson may just retire anyway. He owns half of Hawaii already, and can smoke cigars anywhere. Mullin, though, has always been a Warrior, even when he was a Pacer, and Cohan's history with other basketball hires is fairly miserable. No lesson is worth starting over again, with all those 29-win seasons, the people laughing at him and calling him the worst owner in the Bay Area, and the rest of the Warrior Nostalgia Package.

So Cohan must tread lighter than he seems to want to here, and not just because Ellis might get pouty. He can leave the abuse to the media and fans if he wants to impart a lesson, but he can't go overboard just to prove a point. And overboard means risking the basketball people that gave him his one fleeting moment of glory since buying the team from Jim Fitzgerald back in the First Chris Webber Era.

Now maybe Cohan is ready for regime change. Maybe the fact that Mullin and Nelson come up for re-signing at the same time is fortuitous for him. Maybe he views this as an opportunity to fix what wasn't broken, because owners do that from time to time for no earthly reason whatsoever.

But he should at least know that is part of the risk involved here. Monta Ellis threw a lot of things into turmoil when he went riding that fateful evening, and now he sees just how extensive that turmoil could be.

That might just be punishment enough.

[Underdog]

^lol

[Underdog]

Warriors' Ellis suspended without pay after accident


OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - The Golden State Warriors suspended injured guard Monta Ellis for 30 games without pay Saturday for violating his lucrative new contract by getting into a moped accident.

Ellis, who agreed to a six-year deal worth $66 million in July, severely sprained his ankle in a low-speed crash in late August. The suspension will cost the guard slightly less than $3 million.

The Warriors counted four preseason games in the suspension's length, which means Ellis can't return to the club until after Golden State's 26th regular-season game, against Indiana on Dec. 17.

Ellis, who recently underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament, was unlikely to return before then anyway, but the suspension means the guard won't be paid during his absence. Ellis' agent, Jeff Fried, met with Golden State officials during the week to settle Ellis' punishment.

Ellis compounded his mistake by initially lying to the Warriors about the accident. He told Chris Mullin, the Warriors' top basketball executive, that he hurt himself playing pickup ball in his native Mississippi, but came clean about the accident several days later.

The guard will be allowed to spend time at the Warriors' training complex for rehabilitation during his suspension, but Golden State president Robert Rowell is taking a risk of possibly alienating the player expected to be the centerpiece of coach Don Nelson's up-tempo offense after Baron Davis' defection to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Ellis was the second-leading scorer for the NBA's highest-scoring team last season, averaging 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists.

When the Warriors opened training camp last month, both Mullin and Nelson seemed to be leaning toward Ellis remaining with the team without punishment. Rowell apparently didn't agree.

"The cooperation that we received from Jeff Fried enabled us to be very diligent in collecting all of the facts surrounding the incident," Rowell said. "This 30-game suspension is a result of that. From this point forward, it is the complete focus of everyone involved to provide Monta with all the support he needs to have a successful rehabilitation, and to get him back on the court as an integral part of this team."

The Warriors cited Ellis' violation of Paragraph 12 of the NBA's uniform player contract, which prohibits a player from engaging "in any activity that a reasonable person would recognize as involving or exposing the participant to a substantial risk of bodily injury," including "driving or riding a motorcycle or moped."

Ellis rejoined his teammates in Oakland in late September. A few hours after facing the Oklahoma City Thunder in an exhibition game Saturday, Golden State's remaining players and coaches will be off on a 17-hour flight to China for preseason games in Beijing and Guangzhou.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Two consecutive playoffs missed, ten to go.

[horse900703]

WOW~~

[Flacolaco]

"NBA guard"

"moped"

"low speed crash"

One of these things doesn't belong.

[StackAttack]

Just out of curiosity, wouldn't the hypothetical situation of speed-racing through Winston-Salem count as a possible contract violation?

[MavsFanFinley]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

"NBA guard"

"moped"

"low speed crash"

One of these things doesn't belong.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Flacolaco again.

[Kidd Karma]

Once Chris Cohan took over the Warriors in 1994, the team has never been the same. He threatened a lawsuit to take control of the Warriors. At the time the Warriors were actually recovering from the Parish-McHale trade, picking up Hardaway-Richmond and Mullin in drafts, the former Milwaukee ownership decided to buy the Warriors, hire Nellie as the coach and boom , the franchise took off...until Cohan took full control, who bought 25 percent in 1991.

[bernardos70]

Effing up my S since I picked him up for my fantasy team. Egads!