Refocused WSU standout CJ Elleby catches on with G-League Salt Lake City Stars
FRISCO, Texas – CJ Elleby’s first four seasons in professional basketball have seen the former Washington State star weather the highs and lows that often define life as a young pro. The highs include being a second-round pick in 2020 and playing 88 games for Portland his first two seasons.
The lows were signing with Minnesota last August only to be waived in mid-October. After starting the season with the Timberwolves’ G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, Elleby, 22, played there until Feb. 2, when he was released again.
He signed with the Salt Lake City Stars on Feb. 20 and has fit in nicely with his new club, averaging 4.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in eight contests with the Stars, the Utah Jazz G League affiliate.
“Yeah, my time at Salt Lake has been great. It’s been really fun,” said Elleby, a Cougar for two seasons (2018-20). “I meshed really quickly with the team.
“I just want to impact winning. I want to help the team win. The G League has been a blessing. I’ve enjoyed playing against great competition, guys who have years of experience in the league. It’s a blessing because we’re right there, a phone call away (from the NBA). It’s just me focused on enjoying this experience because a lot of people want to be where I’m at, a lot of people want to get to experience the G League and the NBA.”
Elleby spent two accomplished seasons in Pullman.
As a freshman, he averaged 14.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, earning a spot on the Pac-12 Conference’s all-freshman team. As a sophomore, he earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors by averaging 18.4 points and 7.8 boards per night.
“It was a golden period in my life. I had a lot of fun and just created some lifetime bonds and friendships,” Elleby said of his two years at WSU. “Those connections are the biggest part and just being able to be on a campus where so many people got to have their college experience.”
When asked to name his most memorable moment in Pullman, he quickly cited the January 2020 ceremony to retire Klay Thompson’s No. 1 jersey.
“That weekend was probably one of my favorite weekends being home in Pullman,” he said. “Klay got his jersey in the rafters, brought Steph Curry to town and we got to share that with Klay. While I got to be there at that time for my college experience, he was there a decade or so before but just to be there while he got his jersey retired was super cool.”
Seeing Thompson, who he continues to shares a bond with due to their shared experiences of playing at WSU, experience such a great honor only helped build a friendship between these two former Cougars standouts.
“It was super cool (to talk to him during my two seasons in the NBA). It’s something that you can’t duplicate,” Elleby said. “It’s something that just happens. It’s not a coincidence. It’s special to me. He’s reached out since I’ve been in the league. I’ve reached out, congratulated him on his last championship and stuff like that. Him just reaching out and keeping that line open and letting me know he’s in full support of me and what I’m doing, I’m just looking at him like this is possible. He’s done it. I went to the same school as him. We share the Washington State bond, and it’s possible at this level, too.”
Besides Thompson, he credits former Portland teammates Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum for passing along countless bits of sage advice they learned in the early stages of their NBA careers to him.
Even though Elleby has seen firsthand that above all else, the NBA is a business, it remains one he wants to be front and center in his life.
“It’s a great experience, a great business. It’s the best of the best coming together,” he said. “For me, it’s just the confidence and understanding that I’m here for a reason and I belong.
“Just having fun, I think that’s the biggest part. Wherever this game takes me, whether that will be to an NBA roster or to overseas, it’s just having as much fun as I can and enjoying where I’m at. I’ve just learned that you can look ahead and at the past, but you’ll never be where you are again. Just having the most fun I can and losing myself in the moment.”
Elleby said that over the past few years, he lost his love for the game only to quickly rediscover it, a journey he considers part of some serious soul searching he’s done to learn more about himself and how to be more present, grateful for and completely immersed in his situation instead of focusing on external things out of his control like if he will get another call to play in the NBA.
“I just realized things about myself, things that are good for me and my professional career. Basketball has been my life for my whole life,” he said. “It’s second nature. It’s the business that I’m in right now. It’s been more (about) clearing the space around and within me to focus on doing what I love, playing basketball. Life is a lot. There’s a lot going on in this world. It’s a blessing to be able to play this game. I’ve had to refocus myself and remember what I’m doing this for, because I love the game.”
Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.