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Derek Harper
Derek Harper (9HFbKlxj1Es) (cropped).png
Harper in 2023
Personal information
Born (1961-10-13) October 13, 1961 (age 63)
Elberton, Georgia, U.S.
High school North Shore
(West Palm Beach, Florida)
Listed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
College Illinois (1980–1983)
NBA Draft 1983 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11th overall
Selected by the Dallas Mavericks
Pro career 1983–1999
Career history
1983–1994 Dallas Mavericks
1994–1996 New York Knicks
1996–1997 Dallas Mavericks
1997–1998 Orlando Magic
1999 Los Angeles Lakers
Career highlights and awards
  • 2× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1987, 1990)
  • No. 12 retired by Dallas Mavericks
  • Second-team All-American – AP (1983)
  • First-team Parade All-American (1980)
Career NBA statistics
Points 16,006 (13.3 ppg)
Rebounds 2,884 (2.4 rpg)
Assists 6,577 (5.5 apg)

Derek Ricardo Harper (born October 13, 1961) is a former American professional basketball player. He was a talented point guard who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 16 seasons. He is best known for his time with the Dallas Mavericks and the New York Knicks. Many people consider him one of the best players who was never chosen for an All-Star game.

College Basketball Star

Derek Harper played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini team at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He played for three seasons. His best year was 1982–1983. That season, he led his team in scoring with 15.4 points per game.

Harper was named First-Team All-Big Ten in 1983. He was also chosen as a Second-Team All-American. In both 1981 and 1982, he received an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten award. He averaged 4.7 assists per game during his college career. He led the Big Ten in assists during the 1981–1982 season.

In 2004, Harper was honored by being elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team." This shows how important he was to the team's history.

Professional Basketball Career

Derek Harper was chosen by the Dallas Mavericks as the 11th pick in the 1983 NBA draft. He was 6 feet 4 inches tall. He played for the Mavericks for his first ten seasons.

Playing for the Dallas Mavericks (1983–1993)

During his first time with the Mavericks, Harper averaged 15 points and 6.1 assists per game. He often started games alongside shooting guard Rolando Blackman. The Mavericks made the playoffs in 6 of Harper's 10 seasons. In the 1987–1988 season, they reached the Western Conference Finals.

Harper was known as a great scorer and defender. His best scoring season was 1990–1991, when he averaged 19.7 points per game. Even with his strong play, he was never selected for an All-Star team. The Mavericks struggled as a team during his later years there. In the 1992–1993 season, they had one of the worst records ever, winning only 11 games and losing 71. Harper left the team during the 1993–1994 season.

Derek Harper is one of the few NBA players to increase his scoring average for eight seasons in a row. He did this with the Mavericks from 1983–84 to 1990–91.

Joining the New York Knicks (1993–1996)

In the middle of the 1993–94 season, Harper was traded to the New York Knicks. He joined his former teammate, Rolando Blackman, there. The Knicks needed a strong defensive point guard. Their player, Doc Rivers, was injured. Harper went from a struggling team to one that almost won the 1994 NBA Championship.

His personal statistics went down because he had a different role on the team. However, he still played well. His best season with the Knicks was his last, where he averaged 14.0 points per game. He became a free agent in July 1996.

Back with the Dallas Mavericks (1996–1997)

Harper signed with the Mavericks again in July 1996. He averaged 10.0 points and 4.3 assists per game. Even though he was 35 years old, he played well. However, the Mavericks still had a tough season, winning only 24 games. This was his final season playing for Dallas.

Playing for the Orlando Magic (1997–1998)

The Mavericks traded Harper to the Orlando Magic. He played one season for them. His scoring and overall play decreased, but he was still a good player off the bench. The Magic team was quite old, with many players over 30. Harper was 36 at the time. The team finished with an average record and missed the playoffs. Harper's contract ended in 1998.

Final Season with the Los Angeles Lakers (1999)

Harper signed with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent. The Lakers were a strong team with young stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. This was the first time Harper reached the playoffs since 1996 with the Knicks. The Lakers made it to the second round of the playoffs. They were swept by the San Antonio Spurs. This was the last season of Harper's professional career.

Retirement from Basketball

After the 1999 season, the Lakers traded Harper to the Detroit Pistons. However, he decided not to play for them. He retired from the NBA shortly after.

On December 18, 2017, the Dallas Mavericks announced they would retire Harper's number 12 jersey. This special ceremony happened on January 7, 2018.

Life After Basketball

Derek Harper lives in Dallas with his family. His daughter, Dana Harper, was a contestant on season 11 of The Voice.

Today, Derek Harper works as a game analyst for the Dallas Mavericks. He helps explain the games on local TV broadcasts. From 2005, he was also a weekend sports anchor at KTXA, a TV station in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Basketball Honors and Awards

  • 1981 – Honorable Mention All-Big Ten
  • 1982 – Honorable Mention All-Big Ten
  • 1983 – Team Captain
  • 1983 – Team MVP (Most Valuable Player)
  • 1983 – 1st Team All-Big Ten
  • 1983 – 2nd Team All-American
  • 2004 – Elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team"
  • 2008 – Honored as one of the 33 honored jerseys at the State Farm Center. This shows he is one of the most famous basketball players in the University of Illinois' history.
  • 2018 – Dallas Mavericks #12 jersey retired

College Statistics

Season Games Points PPG Field Goals Attempts Avg Free Throws Attempts Avg Rebounds Avg Assists APG
1980–81 29 241 8.3 104 252 .413 33 46 .717 75 2.6 156 5.4
1981–82 29 244 8.4 105 230 .457 34 45 .756 133 4.6 145 5.0
1982–83 32 492 15.4 198 369 .537 83 123 .675 112 3.5 118 3.7
Totals 90 977 10.9 407 851 .478 150 214 .701 320 3.6 419 4.7

NBA Career Statistics

Harper played in 1,199 regular season games. This makes him one of the players with the most games played in NBA history. When he retired, he had the 11th-most steals and the 17th-most assists in NBA history. He is also the Dallas Mavericks' all-time leader in both steals and assists.

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular Season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1983–84 Dallas 82 1 20.9 .443 .115 .673 2.1 2.9 1.2 .3 5.7
1984–85 Dallas 82 1 27.0 .520 .344 .721 2.4 4.4 1.8 .5 9.6
1985–86 Dallas 79 39 27.2 .534 .235 .747 2.9 5.3 1.9 .3 12.2
1986–87 Dallas 77 76 33.2 .501 .358 .684 2.6 7.9 2.2 .3 16.0
1987–88 Dallas 82 82 37.0 .459 .313 .759 3.0 7.7 2.0 .4 17.0
1988–89 Dallas 81 81 36.6 .477 .356 .806 2.8 7.0 2.1 .5 17.3
1989–90 Dallas 82 82 36.7 .488 .371 .794 3.0 7.4 2.3 .3 18.0
1990–91 Dallas 77 77 37.4 .467 .362 .731 3.0 7.1 1.9 .2 19.7
1991–92 Dallas 65 64 34.6 .443 .312 .759 2.6 5.7 1.6 .3 17.7
1992–93 Dallas 62 60 34.0 .419 .393 .756 2.0 5.4 1.3 .3 18.2
1993–94 Dallas 28 28 31.9 .380 .352 .560 2.0 3.5 1.6 .1 11.6
1993–94 New York 54 27 24.3 .430 .367 .743 1.6 4.4 1.5 .1 8.6
1994–95 New York 80 80 34.0 .446 .363 .724 2.4 5.7 1.0 .1 11.5
1995–96 New York 82 82* 35.3 .464 .372 .757 2.5 4.3 1.6 .1 14.0
1996–97 Dallas 75 29 29.5 .444 .341 .742 1.8 4.3 1.2 .2 10.0
1997–98 Orlando 66 45 26.7 .417 .360 .696 1.6 3.5 1.1 .2 8.6
1998–99 L. A. Lakers 45 29 24.9 .412 .368 .813 1.5 4.2 1.0 .1 6.9
Career 1,199 883 31.5 .463 .354 .745 2.4 5.5 1.6 .3 13.3

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1984 Dallas 10 – 22.6 .389 .375 .714 2.0 2.8 1.1 .2 5.0
1985 Dallas 4 0 33.0 .476 .333 .714 3.0 5.0 1.5 .3 6.5
1986 Dallas 10 10 34.8 .533 .571 .750 1.9 7.6 2.3 .0 13.4
1987 Dallas 4 4 30.8 .500 .222 .800 3.0 6.8 1.8 .0 16.5
1988 Dallas 17 17 35.4 .441 .250 .729 2.5 7.1 1.9 .3 13.5
1990 Dallas 3 3 39.7 .438 .313 .688 2.7 7.7 1.3 .0 19.3
1994 New York 23 22 32.6 .429 .341 .643 2.3 4.5 1.8 .0 11.4
1995 New York 11 11 35.3 .514 .574 .750 3.5 5.6 1.0 .1 14.3
1996 New York 8 8 36.6 .354 .314 .733 2.1 4.8 1.3 .1 10.0
1999 L. A. Lakers 7 0 16.1 .419 .100 .500 1.4 2.1 .3 .0 4.3
Career 97 75 31.9 .449 .365 .712 2.4 5.3 1.5 .1 11.3

See Also

  • List of National Basketball Association career games played leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders
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