The Game: Interview with the Rockets’ Mario Elie
Mario Elie won two NBA championships with the Rockets, one in 1994 and again in 1995, a third in 1999 helping the San Antonio Spurs win their first NBA title. Elie was dubbed the “Junkyard Dog” by his teammates. he had a reputation as a tough defender, a fierce competitor, and an accurate and clutch outside shooter.
Currently, Ellie is an analyst on the Houston Rockets broadcast team.
Elie is married to Gina Gaston, a journalist, and anchorwoman for Houston’s Channel ABC13. Elie and Gaston have triplets.
ESPN 97.5/ESPN 92.5. hosts Jeremy Branham and Joel Blank caught up with Ellie to talk Rockets basketball and reminisce about those Rockets glory days in the ’90s.
Jeremy Branham: Mario Elie is with us. Thanks for coming in! What do you make of these Rockets?
Mario Elie: Crazy, JB, but very excited. I’ve been going to a lot of the games covering them. I just got to give credit to Coach Silas; after losing 15 games, you can usually lose a young team. But his voice was consistent, and he’s been waiting 20 years for this opportunity to coach, so he wants to do it his way. So now I think the guys are buying into what he’s selling, and it’s looking good.
Joel Blank: But ‘Rio, all your years and you’ve been in multiple different positions. But as a longtime coach, you know the best success comes when they play as a team.
Mario Elie: Yes, and I think Jalen needs a little help. He’s a two-guard and is very explosive. When the ball moves side to side and guys are attacking. I’m sure we will talk more about Garrison Mathews, who’s just added a nice edge to the team. I love his story and love the toughness he brings to the squad.
Jeremy Branham: Shockingly, you like the toughness, considering that was kind of what you used to do for the Rockets when they were winning titles, with you as the Junkyard Dog.
Mario Elie: I think those guys are pieces. We still need our stars to be stars. You know, we picked Jalen Green second, we got Kevin Porter. You know, Christian Wood is playing some really good ball. But I’m just liking what I’m seeing right now. Now guys are taking charges. That’s an underrated stat.
Jeremy Branham: Mario Elie is joining us in the studio at ESPN 97.5/ESPN 92.5. Whenever you hear that name, you think Kiss of Death. Houston Rockets beating the Suns trailing in the Series three to one at the time, the first team ever to be down three one with only one home game to win the series. What do you remember about that play? And how often do people come up to you and talk about that?
Mario Elie: All the time. Great play. I remember just a group of guys I was in the bunker with being down three one, us laughing down three one flying down to Phoenix, not seeing panic in that group. That was a fantastic group of men that fought with us, and we’re confident that we would come back. It was just something about that group. But, you know, we were blowing kisses and started Game five and Joe Klein blowing kisses. He’ll make a bucket, blow a kiss, and it was all in fun. So I felt once we won that game five in overtime, I knew we were going to kill him at home. We did that, and then I thought it in Game seven. I got Hakeem Olajuwon on the road in a game seven at the time, the best player in the league. You know so that I would take my chances, and it’s because of him that I could get that three. Once I let it go and went in, that first guy I looked at was Joe Klein. And you know what happened next? I blew him the kiss of death, and he was turning red as an apple.
Joel Blank: But even in the moment, Rio, the thing is, is that you don’t fathom it was a big shot for your team at that moment because I was there every step of the way. I sat behind Rudy for that game because there wasn’t TV, and I knew Rudy was like, Run the clock, run the clock, right? And he saw you. And he was like, No, no, no. And then everybody went nuts. But you don’t think about the long-term ramifications at the time. It just had the vote the other night on AT & T Sportsnet, and they said the most, the most monumental play in Rockets history, you would think, Dream with that on David Robinson, and here comes the kiss of death because that is the Houston Rockets during that run.
Mario Elie: Absolutely. I mean, like you said, being down three one, having the hardest road, I know they polled, and the toughest championship road was in 95 No home court. US winning nine road games against Shaq, Barkley, Robinson, MVP, Karl Malone, Stockton…
Joel Blank: I’m not happy that you’re not coaching, and you know that, and I thought you got a raw deal when you were one of the hottest commodities going a few years ago. You’ve made the transition to broadcast. I don’t know how you got to start, who gave you a look, but how do you like the broadcast side of things?
Mario Elie: Enjoying it, getting to enjoy time with my wife. You know, I’ve been on the road a lot, raising triplets. Yeah, Everybody’s out of the house now. So life is really good right now. We sold our home, so we downsized. And the wife & I enjoy living in the city, life in Houston, and working with Murph and Kevin, and Cayleigh, just a great group of people. We’re having a blast.Jeremy Branham: Rocket legend Mario Elie stopping by. Thanks for joining us, Mario.