Sean Michael Elliott (born February 2, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who starred as a small forward in both the college and professional ranks. He attended the University of Arizona, where he had a standout career as a two-time All-American, winner of the 1989 John R. Wooden Award, the 1989 Adolph Rupp Trophy, the 1989 NABC Player of the Year, 1989 AP Player of the Year, and two time Pac-12 Player of the Year (in 1988–1989).
He was the third pick of the 1989 NBA draft, was named to the 1990 NBA All-Rookie Second Team, was a two-time NBA All-Star, and earned an NBA championship in 1999.
His #32 is retired by both the University of Arizona and the San Antonio Spurs.
Early life
Elliott was born in Tucson, Arizona, as the youngest of three boys. He attended the G.A.T.E. (Gifted and Talented Education) program at Tolson Elementary School there, then played basketball at Cholla High School (now Cholla High Magnet School) on the city's west side.
College
After graduating in 1985, he remained in Tucson to play college basketball at the University of Arizona. Under the tutelage of Lute Olson, Elliott was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. He was selected as a consensus all-American during his junior and senior years, and led the Wildcats to the Final Four in his junior year (1988). Elliott broke Lew Alcindor's (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) all time Pac-10 career scoring record. After an exceptional senior season, Elliott won the Wooden Award. He is still the University of Arizona's all-time leading scorer.
He played for the US national team in the 1986 FIBA World Championship, winning the gold medal.
NCAA career statistics
|-
| align="left" | 1985–86
| align="left" | Arizona
| 32 || ... || 33.7 || .486 || ... || .749 || 5.3 || 2.2 || 0.7 || 0.3 || 15.6
|-
| align="left" | 1986–87
| align="left" | Arizona
| 30 || ... || 34.9 || .510 || .371 || .770 || 6.0 || 3.7 || 0.7 || 0.2 || 19.3
|-
| align="left" | 1987–88
| align="left" | Arizona
| 38 || ... || 32.9 || .570 || .471 || .793 || 5.8 || 3.6 || 0.7 || 0.4 || 19.6
|-
| align="left" | 1988–89
| align="left" | Arizona
| 33 || ... || 34.1 || .480 || .504 || .841 || 7.2 || 4.1 || 1.0 || 0.3 || 22.3
|-
| align="left" | Career
| align="left" | ... | 133 || ... || 33.8 || .512 || .456 || .793 || 6.1 || 3.4 || 0.8 || 0.3 || 19.2 |-
NBA career
San Antonio Spurs (1989–1993) Elliott was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs as the third pick in the first round of the 1989 NBA draft. Elliot started in 69 of 81 games for the season and averaged 10 points a game. The Spurs made the playoffs where they swept the Denver Nuggets in the first round before falling to the eventual Western Conference Champion Portland Trail Blazers in 7 games.
In the following season, Elliott was moved to the permanent starting line-up and increased his scoring to 15.9 points a game. The Spurs won 55 games but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Golden State Warriors in four games. Elliott averaged 16.3 points per game during the 1991–92 season but San Antonio were swept in the first round by the Phoenix Suns.
During the 1992–93 season, Elliott averaged 17.2 points per game, including a career-high 41 points against the Dallas Mavericks on December 18, 1992. He was named to play in the 1993 NBA All-Star Game alongside teammate David Robinson. In the playoffs, San Antonio defeated Portland 3 games to 1, before facing the number one seeded Suns in the conference semifinal. After losing the first two games in Phoenix, the Spurs responded with consecutive games at home, as Elliott scored 17 points in game 3 and 19 points in game 4. The Suns managed to wrap up the series in the next two games. Elliot averaged 15.8 points per game in the playoffs.
Detroit Pistons (1993–1994) Elliott spent the 1993–94 season with the Detroit Pistons after being traded for Dennis Rodman in a multi-player deal. After Elliott struggled with the Pistons, the Pistons attempted to trade him to the eventual champion Houston Rockets in February 1994 in exchange for Robert Horry, Matt Bullard and two second-round draft choices; the trade fell through when Elliott failed his physical. After the trade was voided, Elliott held a press conference and announced that he had a kidney problem. Elliott remained in Detroit for the rest of the season and averaged 12.1 points per game. Following the end of the season, he was traded back to the Spurs for the draft rights of Bill Curley.