Professional
At 6-4, Harper was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 11th overall pick of the 1983 NBA Draft and spent his first ten seasons with them, averaging 15 points and 6.1 assists. In the 1984 playoffs, he made a critical error when he didn't know the game was tied and he dribbled out the clock sending the game to overtime against the Los Angeles Lakers. However, Harper had his redemption when he hit a clutch shot against the Lakers two years later in the 1986 playoffs. He was traded to the New York Knicks 28 games into the 1993-94 season as the Knicks were looking for a defensive point guard to replace Doc Rivers who went down with an injury that sidelined him for the whole season. This turned out to be a blessing for Harper because the Mavericks were on their way to a 13-69 win-loss campaign, while Harper was an integral part of a Knicks team that came within one game of winning the 1994 NBA Championship.
Harper played for the Knicks through the 1995-96 season, returned to Dallas the following season, and played one season each with the Magic and Lakers before retiring. The Lakers traded Harper to the Detroit Pistons, but he retired without reporting to the team.
Harper played in 1199 regular season games in his career, ranking him twenty-first in NBA history (as of the 2004-5 NBA season). He retired having the eleventh most steals and the seventeenth most assists in NBA history, and is widely regarded with the dubious distinction as being one of the best players to never make it to the All-Star game.
Harper presently lives in Dallas with his family. He is now a game analyst for the Dallas Mavericks on their locally broadcasted games; and since fall 2005, he has been the weekend sports anchor at KTXA, the former CBS operated station serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Read more about this topic: Derek Harper
Famous quotes containing the word professional:
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