Houston Rockets: Happy 50th Birthday Super Mario Elie

1995 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

Space City Scoop would like to wish Mario Elie a Happy 50th Birthday. Elie is currently an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets, and that can’t make for a great birthday gift as the Nets are 3-10 and the coaching staff, notably Jason Kidd is getting thrown under the bus by the future Hall-of-Fame roster. Also worth noting the Nets don’t have any draft picks till 2019!!

Hopefully Mario can look back on his arrival to the Houston Rockets during the 93′-94′ season to cheer him up. He can also polish his three rings for fun. (Two with the Rockets and one with the San Antonio Spurs)

All Houstonians can remember the highlight of Elie’s career came when he hit a clutch three-pointer 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.

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 64% from the field. He was also 8 for 14 (.571) from the three-point line, hitting 7 of 10 three-pointers in Games 3 and 4.

Here of course is that “Kiss of Death” and Happy Birthday “Super Mario!”