Monta Is Mississippi

I found this gem while digging around YouTube. I believe it’s an extended version of the video clips from the Who Is Monta Ellis? ad campaign from AND1.

Below you will find seven and a half minutes of Monta Ellis adoration. From coaches to cousins, everyone is beaming and praising the Mississippi Bullet.

All the media pieces I’ve seen on Monta have made note of his humble beginnings and it’s eye opening to actually catch glimpses of his old neighborhood. The interviewees speak of him having been a quiet, basketball mad kid, but Ellis is obviously comfortable and clowning at his (giant) annual family reunion. The high school footage is worth the watch alone.

Seeing Monta’s game consistently develop is one of the best things about following the Warriors at this time. After watching that footage of him utterly destroying the competition in high school, it’s easy to see what steep learning curve he must have encountered once he hit the league. A lesser person would have crumbled upon finding themselves a minnow among sharks, but Ellis has stepped up his skills each season and made a name for himself as one of the rising stars in the NBA. I’m getting all gushy thinking about it and I’m not even one of his cousins. Go Warriors, Go Monta.