Melvin Anderson Ely, an American professional basketball player, who was born on May 2, 1978 in Harvey, Illinois.
Ely is currently playing for the Denver Nuggets in the NBA. Ely was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round with 12th overall pick of the 2002 NBA Draft. He plays at forward-center position, wearing shirt No. 34. Ely’s listed height and weight is 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) and 261 lb (118 kg) respectively.Ely earned All-American honors from McDonald’s and Parade while attending Harvey Thornton High School.
In 1997, he averaged 15.5 points per game, 9.3 rebounds per game and 5.2 blocked shots per game as a senior, and was named the Chicago Sun-Times player of the year and first team all-state. in 1995 and 1996 Ely led his Wildcats to a second-place finish and third-place in 1997. Ely was voted one of the “100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament,” in 2007.
in 2000 and 2001Ely led the Bulldogs to two NCAA tournament appearances.
He also won the WAC Player of the Year award in 2001 and 2002. on July, 2004 after two seasons in Los Angeles, Ely was traded by the Clippers to the Charlotte Bobcats for two second-round draft picks in 2005 and 2006.
On October, 2006 he rejected offers from the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns to sign a one-year, $3 million contract to remain with the Bobcats.
he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs on February 13, 2007. He played only 6 games for the Spurs averaging 3.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. Ely signed with the New Orleans Hornets in the 2007 offseason.
Brief over view 0f Ely’s career information includes, during college he played for Fresno State , his NBA Draft 2002 / 12th overall Selected by the Los Angeles Clippers and his Pro career 2002–present and his League NBA. Some highlights of his career history showed he played for Los Angeles Clippers (2002–2004), Charlotte Bobcats (2004–2007), San Antonio Spurs (2007), New Orleans Hornets (2007-2009) and for Denver Nuggets (2009-present).
Main career achievements of Ely are he won HS All-State, All-American (1997), Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year (1997), 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament (2007) and also1 time NBA Champion (2007). His 2011 Salary is $854,389.