Melvin Ely has been a winner ever since high school when he was named a 1997 McDonald’s All-American after going 93-4 during his 3 years as a starter. He played for Coach Jerry Tarkanian at Fresno State and won back-to-back WAC POY awards in 2001/2002. He was drafted 12th overall by the Clippers in 2002 and a few years later he won a championship ring with the Spurs in 2007. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Melvin about playing for a Hall of Fame coach and winning an NBA title. Today is Melvin’s birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!
In the 1997 McDonald’s All-American Game you played for the East in a win over the West: which of your teammates impressed you the most (Ron Artest/Elton Brand/Lamar Odom/other)? It is funny you say that: we are all thick as thieves now and got to meet up later in the NBA. Lamar impressed me the most: people do not realize what it took to be a near-7 footer who could put the ball on the ground. Tracy McGrady was also a beast.
You played for Hall of Fame coach Jerry Tarkanian at Fresno State: what made him such a great coach, and (even though you previously said you learned something from him every single day) what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? How long you got?! After the All-American Game I had people saying that Tark wanted me but I did not even know who he was. I told my brother and he dropped the phone. I was thinking of going to Wisconsin because my brother had played there. Once I received a letter from Tark the letters from everyone else like Georgetown/Syracuse stopped. I talked to his son Danny who was the in-between guy: we are still close. I picked Tark because he cared: not too many people will come to Harvey by themselves but he pulled over 1 day and asked some gang members how to get to my house! He had some of the roughest guys chauffeuring him around and once he did I was hooked. He was a legend by the time he met me: nobody else would come to my neighborhood. Every day I went to his office he would only have his door closed if he was cussing out 1 of his players. If he told you something then he meant it and loved us like a father would. I lost my dad entering my senior year and Tark was the most genuine coach I ever saw. I have had similar coaches (like Gregg Popovich) but nobody exactly like him. The only thing Tark ever cared about was how we were doing off the court: he wanted to raise a bunch of kids in his shadow. We had a few that stumbled but he never gave up on us and never allowed us to give up on each other. He and his family made me a better man/responsible adult. Basketball was easy: his philosophy was to succeed at life. When we lost a game for Tark the world got a little bit smaller. Whenever I called him he always made time for me: I remember calling him when I got cut by the NBA. I was 1 of the last players to speak to him before he passed and am happy for that. He protected us all the time whenever people came at us with BS: we knew that we had a father figure.
In 2001 & 2002 you were named WAC POY: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? It meant more for me that it shined a light on our coaching staff. I was suspended for a few games during my senior year and when I found out I was in tears in the locker room. Tark asked me if I wanted to get even and told me that when I got back on the court to act like I was playing against the NCAA. If you look back at my stats when I returned from suspension I scored about 30 PPG! Any honor I got was due to Tark. President John Welty told me 1 day that he was thinking of getting rid of Tark: I told him that if he fired Tark I would never play for Fresno State again. When you play for someone else rather than for yourself the game becomes more rewarding.
In the summer of 2002 you were drafted 12th overall by the Clippers (3 spots behind Amar’e Stoudemire): did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? I did not even know that I was going to get drafted: I just saw basketball as a way for me to pay for college and get an education so that I could get a better job afterward. I remember all of the times I got cut and had to play with holes in my shoes while wearing the same clothes that I had worn the previously day. We did not get there by ourselves: a lot of people put in the time/effort that got me there. Getting to the NBA is tough…but staying there 10 years is even harder. You have college kids who want your job, overseas players, etc. It was the scariest moment of my life because the whole process was a nightmare. You are lucky if you get your # called. My mom was a steelworker and my dad was a cook so the 1st thing I did was to get my mom out of Harvey and tell her to go back to work 1 more day and tell them to kiss her ass! It is a dream come true but it can be a never-ending nightmare as well.
In 2007 you were voted 1 of the “100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament” along with great players such as Michael Finley/Jack Sikma/Isiah Thomas: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? At the top. When I was in high school you did not want to play us! We played to a packed house everywhere we went. I played with Corey Maggette/Quentin Richardson and against Antoine Walker: when you go through Chicago hoops you have to earn it. We all stayed around each other: it meant a lot to be a Chicago hooper. New York/LA have some legends…but every team in Chicago had 1-2 players who made the NBA or could have made it if they had the grades to get into college. I will go name for name with everybody. I think Chicago is its own mecca: someone should tell the story someday.
In February of 2007 you were traded from Charlotte to San Antonio: what did it mean to you to win an NBA title only a few months later? Bernie Bickerstaff is like Tark to me: a great coach/father figure. People who win championships are not just friends: they are a restructured family. I was a little hurt when I left Charlotte until I realized that Bernie wanted to put me on a better path. It helped me prolong my career because in San Antonio you learn 1 way to do things: the team way. From my very 1st day with the Spurs it was great to be around Pop because he is so funny. When you leave a place as a better man that is amazing to me: the haves got it right and the have-nots do not have a damn clue! The championship was great because I can throw it in people’s faces who do not have 1, but the best part was bringing my family with me on the month-long road trip due to the rodeo. My entire career before that I was told “family can wait” but it was 1 of the best experiences of my life.
In the 2008 Western Conference Semifinals as a player with New Orleans you lost to San Antonio at home in Game 7: how were the Spurs able to become only the 4th team to ever win Game 7 on the road after the home team won each of the 1st 6 games? It was just a fight: that whole series was awesome. We guarded well and were right on the verge but I think their experience edged us out at the end. You can be a great scorer like Michael Jordan but without any experience it is just a bunch of points. The Spurs had done it before and knew what it took to win down the stretch. It was a damn shame that they broke our team up after that. It was bittersweet for me but we all learned from it. If I had a team that took the Spurs to Game 7 I would have kept that entire team together!
You spent more than a decade playing pro basketball in the NBA/Puerto Rico/Japan: what is the biggest difference between basketball in the US vs. basketball overseas? At 1st I thought there would be a huge gap…but it was not. With enough knowledge/care the sport can be the same everywhere. Right now the 2 guys leading the All-Star voting are Luka/Giannis! I coached in the G-League but my advice is to young players is to go overseas and make some money 1st before coming back and then getting your head together. People forget that it is a livable wage for 5 months…but there are 12 months in a year. Now you see every team with an overseas scout so the learning curve is shrinking. Within the next 10-15 years I think there will not be any difference between Europe and the US. Japan has a little ways to go because basketball is newer to them but Puerto Rico has at least 2-3 NBA guys on every roster.
Your brother Louis played basketball at Wisconsin: who is the best athlete in the family? Right now my son would say him. My brother was a better shot-blocker than me because he had great timing as an undersized center. I think that I was the better athlete but my son is a better shooter. There will be 3 different answers if you ask the 3 of us! I am just lucky to have basketball in my family. Without Lou there would be no me.
When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? Hard worker. People laugh when I tell them this: I never started but I always got double-teamed because I worked my ass off during my 13-year career. I did some stupid things when I was younger but at the end of the day I was loyal and a man of my word. The type of person I was really counts to me: “basketball player” is just a job title. Everyone has an opinion on my ride but it was a hell of a ride! I traveled the world and basketball allowed me to spend more time around my kids and be a better father. I am loved/respected and that is all I really wanted. My only regret is not playing longer but I was coached by legends, played with legends, and had a ball. We lost Commissioner David Stern last year: when he walked up to you at the draft and shook your hand, it showed that he knew how hard we worked to get there and he helped us along. We were on the verge of folding but Stern came in and fixed it all. It helps minorities the most and people do not realize that he upped the money for the players: that man will be missed.