People are making his situation seem so dramatic. Let me backtrack real quick. I’m just throwing this out there, i’m not expecting anyone to really read this since I would be too lazy to read such a long post as well.

05-06 Season

     Monta’s rookie year. Not a lot of expectations, he was a 2nd round pick and the Warriors already had Baron Davis and Derek Fisher at the point guard positions. Mike Montgomery didn’t really play Monta that much.

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06-07 Season

     Monta started getting a lot of buzz at the beginning of the season. It was Nellie’s first year in his return to coach the Warriors. Monta showcased how much potential he has. People started paying attention to him after his dunk on Barbosa.

     He starts getting consistent minutes and his ppg improves, earning him a spot in the Rookie-Sophomore game. He got a lot of alley-oops from CP3 in that game and non-Warriors fans are amazed at how much hops he has; there’s no other point guard in the league that jumps like him.

     Warriors make the Playoffs and Monta wins the Most Improved Player award. Everyone is proud of Monta and he becomes the darling of the We Believe team. Doesn’t perform well in the postseason but we forgave him since he was still young and inexperienced.

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07-08 Season

     Jason Richardson gets traded, leaving even more playing time for Monta Ellis. Monta becomes a 20ppg player, along with Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson who were both 20ppg players as well. Monta averages 26ppg on over 60% shooting for the entire month of February; only a few players have accomplished that in the history of the NBA, and I think Monta is actually the only volume shooter/scorer to ever do it. Monta solidifies himself as one of the best mid range shooters in the NBA, even scoring 36 points in a game without attempting a single free throw or three pointer. He’s starting to get recognized by some of the media as a future all-star.

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08-09 Season

     Baron Davis surprises everyone by going into free agency and signing with the Clippers. Monta now has the responsibility to step up even further and prove that he can lead a team. He’s rewarded with a big contract. Unfortunately, he makes a stupid mistake by injuring himself with a moped and is out for the first half of the season. People criticize him, people are mad. People make fun of him, he’s no longer the sweet little boy anymore. He got tattoos and now he’s a thug? When he returns, he doesn’t play as good as he did the previous season.

     How long will people get mad at him for his moped accident? Yes, he ruined our season, but it’s not like that year was our only chance at winning a championship or anything. I was pissed off at Monta at the time but i’ve already forgiven him for that now.

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08-09 Offseason

     Since Monta has been given a big contract, it’s probably safe to assume that the team is looking at him to be the new leader of the team. He’s trying to be a point guard now that Baron is gone. He didn’t have the 08-09 season to test himself since he was out most of the year.

     All of a sudden, the Warriors draft a young point guard with the 7th pick. Ellis says, “WTF? I thought I was going to be the young point guard of this team”. People get mad at him, people despise him for saying that.

     Later, Ellis says that a backcourt with him and Curry would not succeed on defense. I don’t see how anyone could disagree with that. Sure, they can prove us wrong but on paper it doesn’t look like a good pairing for defense. People start thinking that Ellis is jealous of Curry, people start making up things, saying random nonsense like Ellis is jealous that Curry looks more handsome and that he was a rich kid growing up (WTF?).

     After seeing Curry in the first preseason game, Monta finally shows love for the rookie. Monta just wanted to see Curry play against NBA competition before labeling him as a good player. Monta stated that when he was a rookie, Baron and Fisher never really cut him any slack and that he had to earn their respect. That’s exactly what he was trying to do with Curry, that Curry has to play good in order to get respect.

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09-10 Season

     Warriors have a bad start. Monta hasn’t really done anything to negatively affect the team. When Stephen Jackson gets traded, Monta said he wants his teammates to step up and play the role that Jackson did. People get mad when they hear that, they think Monta is a little punk.

     What I don’t understand is how people can think that was a bad thing. Should Monta be the only person making up for the loss of Jackson? How do you expect Monta to average 30+ ppg? He can’t do it by himself, and that’s why he wants his teammates to step up. He’s concerned about the team, and he wants his teammates to play better. Monta will play his role as a leader but he wants his teammates to be able to step up now that a key player from the team is gone now.

     If he was such a selfish ballhog like a lot of people say he is, then he would have never have said that. If he was selfish, then he wouldn’t want his teammates to step up. He wouldn’t care about him.

     Now, after reviewing his career, I don’t see how the hell he’s considered as a problem or a cancer. Because he got in a moped accident? So does that mean he’s going to get in more moped accidents in the future? Because he had concerns for a rookie? Because he got tattoos? Because he wants his teammates to step up now that Jackson is gone?

     People say he has no leadership. Is it because he’s quiet? What about guys like Tim Duncan, Ray Allen or Chauncey Billups? There’s a ton of great players out there who are quiet yet are considered leaders.

     Don’t get me wrong, i’m not saying that Ellis is an angel or that he’s guaranteed to be a great player for us. I’m just saying that maybe we should be patient with him, he’s still only 24 years old and has great potential. Hold on to him and don’t give up on him. You’d think that missing the playoffs in 14 of the last 15 seasons would show the FO how to deal with their players, especially the ones with potential and youth.

All of this losing just makes everything seem worse than it really is. Monta isn’t the only reason we’re losing, and trading him isn’t going to miraculously turn us into a winning team (unless it’s for some type of all-star big man).