Sean Elliott

Sean Elliott is a former professional basketball player who competed in the NBA. Sean Elliott began his career with the San Antonio Spurs after being picked in the 1989 NBA Draft. He spent a season with the Detroit Pistons as a small forward before returning to the Spurs.

He is also a two-time NBA All-Star as well as a one-time NBA Champion with the Spurs.

Similarly, in college, the athlete broke Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s all-time Pac-10 scoring record.

Family, And Childhood

Sean Elliott was born on February 2, 1968, in the American city of Tucson.

Robert Elliott and Odiemae Elliott are his parents.

When the player was young, his parents divorced.

His mother was also a registered nurse who worked at the Tucson VA Hospital as a critical care nurse.

In 1977, she earned her nursing degree from the University of Arizona’s Nursing College.

She also raised Noel and Bobby Elliott, the NBA player’s older brothers, as a single mother.

As a result, her sons grew up to be extremely close to her.

Not to add that Odiemae was Sean’s biggest cheerleader and fan.

Despite her rigorous schedule as a critical care nurse, she made every effort to attend all of her son’s games throughout high school and college.

Mama Elliott, on the other hand, was quite proud of his achievements and would brag about the life he had created for himself.

After a long fight with cancer, Odiemae passed away in 2014. “[I am] devastated but pleased that she is no longer in suffering,” the little forward remarked in an interview.

She said that she had been in a lot of suffering and that the years leading up to her death had been difficult for her.

Sean, on the other hand, was immensely proud of her life and the impact she had on others.

Aside from that, the athlete’s father disliked being in the spotlight and spent much of his life away from it.

Despite this, he is said to have been a devoted and attentive father to all of his children. In 2015, Robert passed away.

Education

The NBA player went to Tolson Elementary School in middle school, where he participated in the Gifted and Talented Education program.

After that, he went to Cholla High School to finish his high school career.

He also played basketball for the Cholla Chargers in high school.

The school is now well-known as the one Sean attended.

In addition, the gymnasium has been renamed Elliott Gymnasium, and the school’s hallways are decorated with high school jerseys worn by NBA players.

He chose to play collegiate basketball for the University of Arizona after an outstanding career with the Cholla Chargers.

Height, Weight, and Age

Sean Elliott is 54 years old as of 2022. Furthermore, the former athlete is health-conscious and follows a strict diet.

As a result, he is in good shape for a man in his fifties.

Elliott stands 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 205 pounds (92 kg).

Facts of Sean Elliott

Net Worth And Salary

Sean Elliott’s net worth is estimated to be around $16 million. However, his overall career earnings amount to $67,032,824.

Besides that, he served as an analyst for well-known networks like NBC, ABC Sports, and ESPN. As a well-experienced basketballer who has won an NBA title, we can assume he earned well with the networks.

Furthermore, he worked as a color commentator for the San Antonio Spurs and has called a college game with Fox Sports 1. Hence, we can only imagine the athlete’s current earnings.

Academic Career

He attended the University of Arizona after graduating from Cholla High School in 1985. He also played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats, where he was coached by Lute Olson.

He played 32 games for the Wildcats in his freshman season, averaging 15.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. As a result, he was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.

His stats also improved over the next two seasons. In his previous season, he averaged a career-high 22.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game.

As a result, he remains the University of Arizona’s all-time leading scorer. Ninja also represented the United States at the 1986 FIBA World Cup.

Not to mention that they won the FIBA championship.

Spurs of San Antonio

In the 1989 NBA draft, the former champion was selected third overall by the San Antonio Spurs. He also started 69 of the 81 games he played in as a rookie, averaging 10 points per game.

Spurs made the NBA playoffs that year but were eliminated in the semi-finals. However, the next season Elliott was moved into the starting lineup permanently.

This sparked a major change in the regular season as they won 55 of their 82 games. Nonetheless, they fell short to the Warriors in the first round of the postseason.

The next two seasons were pretty much the same as they failed to get past the first round. As a result, the Spurs trade him for Dennis Rodman in a multi-player deal.

Nevertheless, after spending just one season with Detroit Pistons, he was again traded back to the Spurs. During the 1997-98 season, the player was only able to play 39 games due to multiple injuries.

Despite their best efforts, the championship drought continued for his team; until the 1998-1999 season. He sustained an injury during the season as well that limited him to 36 games.

Moreover, Elliott performed exceptionally well during the playoff. As a result, he won his first NBA Championship by averaging 11.9 points in 17 games in the playoffs.

Additionally, he played two more seasons with the spurs but failed to win the title again. Thus, after 12 years, he announced his retirement from competitive basketball in 2001.

Detroit Pistons

After playing four seasons with the spurs, they decide to trade him to the Detroit Pistons. Even though Elliott was a great player, he still struggled with the Pistons.

As of which, the Detroit team decided to trade him to the Houston Rockets. However, the trade fell through because of his kidney problem.

As a result, he remained with the Pistons for the remainder of the season, averaging 12.1 points per game. Nonetheless, he was traded back to the Spurs in the offseason.

Kidney Transplant

Right after Elliott had won the NBA Championship title with the Spurs, he revealed that he was battling a serious kidney disease known as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

Furthermore, Sean had known about the diagnosis since 1993 but had been fighting it silently.

As a result of his disease, his kidneys were unable to filter off waste from his blood. His condition only worsened with time.

Shortly after, the doctors made it clear that the NBA player needed to have a kidney transplant to save his life. Hence, his brother Noel got tested and matched to be a donor.

On August 16, 1999, the basketballer and his older brother underwent surgery to have a kidney transplant. Thereafter, in 2000, he became the first player to be back in NBA after a kidney transplant.

Recently, in 2019, Sean and Noel celebrated 20 years of a kidney transplant. The Spurs’ color commentator continues to spread awareness about transplants through his platform.

Marriage, Wife, And Kids

Sean Elliott is married to Claudia Zapata. As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), Zapata has a Master of Science Degree in Nutrition.

Furthermore, she is deeply passionate about healthy eating and leading an active life. Similarly, Claudia loves weight lifting, working, and doing yoga.

Zapata is also the creator of The Diplomacy Diet, which, as she mentions in her blog, is a “art of negotiation, used to broker deals that lead to positive and lasting lifestyle changes.”

Besides that, her blog is claudiazapata.com, where she shares healthy recipes and many more.

The RDN can also be seen on morning shows like San Antonio Living and Great Day SA. Moreover, she serves as a TV host for Spectrum’s Simply San Antonio segments.

The NBA plyer’s wife is strictly against cleanses, detox diets, and cheat meals as she believes food should be savored and guilt-free.

Through her Instagram account, she promotes healthy recipes, fitness, workout tips, and routines.

Ex-wife and Kids

Sean was previously married to Akiko Herron from 1993 to 2000.

The former couple has a daughter named Jordyn Elliott.

Unlike her father, Jordyn plays collegiate football at the University of California, Berkeley.

Likewise, the Spurs player’s oldest daughter is Jada Elliott, who turned 29 years old in 2021.

She is full of life and loves traveling. Her mother is Susan Dalley.

Furthermore, Claudia also has a son named Tad Brittingham. All of the kids were very young when Zapata and Elliot married in 2001.

Although their family is not conventional, they are very close to each other. Sean’s daughters are very fond of their stepmom; Tad has an amazing bond with Elliott, and the siblings are quite affectionate.

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Social Media Presence

The NBA player is quite active on various social media platforms.

Hence, he has an Instagram account with 10.7k followers.

He mostly shares his life as a post-NBA player and color commentator through his Instagram handle.

In most of his posts, Sean can be seen inside the basketball court with Bill Land, where the players love to joke around with him.

Besides that, the small forward has shared many pictures with his beautiful wife and lovely children.

Furthermore, he works with several charities and healthcare that contribute to organ donating and receiving.

Similarly, the former athlete also has a Twitter account with 45.9k followers.

Subsequently, he is a little more active on his Twitter handle.

The analyst usually shares NBA-related news, events, and highlights in his account.

Likewise, he also tweets about collegiate basketball and the Spurs.

During the Black Lives Matter protest, Sean used his platform to raise awareness against the systemic racism deeply rooted in America.