NBA Career
Later in the 1990-91 season, Elie finally broke into the NBA, playing three games for the Philadelphia 76ers, while on a 10-day contract. He then spent the rest of the season with the Golden State Warriors, and also remained a Warrior in 1991-92. Elie spent the 1992-93 season with the Portland Trail Blazers, before being traded to the Houston Rockets prior to the 1993-94 season.
Elie won 2 NBA championships with the Rockets, first in 1994 and again in 1995, making some incredible three-point field goals and getting the nicknames Super Mario and Junkyard Dog.
The highlight of Elie's career came when he hit a clutch 3 in Game 7 of the 1995 Western Conference Semifinals against the Phoenix Suns to put the Rockets up 113-110 with 7.1 seconds to play. The shot is called the Kiss of Death by Houston fans, as Elie made a taunting kissing gesture towards the Suns' bench shortly after the shot was made.
While Elie was a key role player for the Rockets off the bench throughout the regular season and the playoffs, he became a starter in the 1995 NBA Finals. This paid off for the Rockets, as he averaged 16.3 points per game, almost double his regular season average, while shooting a stellar 24 for 37 from the field (.649). He was also 8 for 14 (.571) from the three-point line, hitting 7 of 10 three-pointers in Games 3 and 4.
Elie played for the Rockets through the 1997-98 season, when he was signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs. He won a third NBA championship when he was part of the Spurs' championship team in 1999.
After playing two seasons for San Antonio, then the 2000-01 season for the Phoenix Suns, he retired. Elie finished with 6,265 points in 732 career NBA games.
In 2007, Elie was inducted into the New York Basketball Hall of Fame.
Read more about this topic: Mario Elie
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