Monta Ellis was born in Jackson, Mississippi on October 26, 1985. The name Monta is short for Montana, which was his grandfather's name. Monta learned the game of basketball by watching his older brother Antwain play. He was even the ball boy on the 1999 Lanier High School state championship team that his brother was on.

At Lanier High School, Ellis led his teams to four straight state 4A finals, winning the title in 2002 and 2005 and finishing runner-up in 2003 and 2004. In his senior season, he was named 2005 Parade Magazine High School Player of the Year after average 38.6 points, 7.6 rebounds ands 6.5 assists. He was set to go to Mississippi State University before opting for the NBA draft in 2005. Monta was slated to be a first round draft pick, but a leg injury hurt his draft stock and he fell to the 2nd round, and was chosen with the 40th pick overall by the Golden State Warriors.

In his rookie year with the Warriors, Monta played sparingly for the first 3 months of the season. His breakout game came in late January against the Lakers when he played a then career high 31 minutes and scored 7 points to go with 6 rebounds. He followed it up the next night with 14 points and 2 steals on 7-10 shooting against the Portland Trailblazers. His high scoring game, was the last game of the season when he had 27 points, 8 rebounds 6 assists and 3 steals against Utah. Monta finished the season averaging 6.8 pts in 18 minutes a game.

The 2006-2007 season was a breakout year for Monta. He averaged 16.5 points a 4.5 assists on his way to winning the NBA's Most Improved Player award. Ellis was also named to the Sophomore team in the NBA All Star Rookie Challenge game. He finished the game with 28 points which included many spectacular dunks. The Warriors finished the year 42-40, including an incredible 9-1 run to sneak into the playoffs, breaking their run of thirteen straight lottery bound seasons. In the playoffs for the first time, Ellis struggled, averaging only 8 points a game on 39% shooting, well below his season average.

Still, heading into the 2007-2008 season, Monta's future still seems bright. With the Warriors trading starting shooting guard Jason Richardson in the offseason, it seems like Ellis will be the main beneficiary.

As of June 30th, 2008, Baron Davis has opted out of his contract and has ushered in The Mississippi Bullet Era. The future is in good hands.