Del Harris
New Jersey Nets (assistant) | |||||||||||||||
2011–2012 | Texas Legends | ||||||||||||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
As coach:
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Career coaching record | |||||||||||||||
NBA | 556–457 (.549) | ||||||||||||||
Basketball Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Delmer William Harris (born June 18, 1937) is an American
Early life and college career
Harris is a 1955 graduate of
Harris graduated from
High school coach
He began his coaching career at the Junior High School level in Johnson City, Tennessee but is best known for his tenure in his native Indiana; in four years in the Indiana ranks he built a record of 54–15 over his last three seasons, winning two Conference titles and a Sectional title.
He coached at three different high schools in Indiana; the Roachdale Hawks, the Dale Golden Aces and the Spencer Cops; his greatest success came at Dale, as he led the Golden Aces to a 2-year record of 35–9 and a Pocket Athletic Conference title. He also coached the Dale baseball team to a PAC title and a record of 26–7; his success built using players such as Roger Kaiser and Bob Reinhart. He moved to Spencer for the 1964–65 season where they had a 19–6 record, winning another Conference title and an IHSAA Sectional title but lost in the Regional finals to Bloomington. The following year, he was hired by Earlham College.
College coach
Harris was coach at
Professional coach
Harris coached seven summers in the Superior League of Puerto Rico while at Earlham, winning three national titles while coaching against various ABA, NBA and NCAA coaches. He coached the Iberia Superstars of the European Professional Basketball League in early 1975.[3]
After becoming acquainted with Utah Stars head coach Tom Nissalke, he was invited into the professional ranks in 1975 as an assistant coach for Nissalke at the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association (ABA). When that franchise folded, Nissalke and Harris were hired as head and assistant coach, respectively, for the NBA's Houston Rockets at the start of the 1976–77 season. They won the Central Division that year, Nissalke earning Coach of the Year honors.
When Nissalke was let go by the club after the 1979 season, Harris was asked to take over head coaching duties for the 1979–80 season. Harris led the Rockets to the NBA Finals in the 1981 season, where they were defeated by the Boston Celtics four games to two in Larry Bird's first championship. Hall of Famer Moses Malone made Harris the Rockets' winningest coach in the first three years with 128 wins and three trips to the playoffs, but when Philadelphia acquired Malone in free agency, the Rockets sacrificed the season to get Ralph Sampson in the draft. Not signing any of their own free agents, the Rockets finished last and Harris was replaced with Bill Fitch.
Don Nelson hired Harris for the Milwaukee Bucks team, where he became head coach four years later when Nelson left for Golden State after experiencing a rift with Bucks owner Herb Kohl.[4] A year later Harris was also named Vice President of Basketball Operations. Harris would resign from his coaching position near the beginning of the 1991–92 season, and then a few months later step down as Vice President.[5]
After his stint with the Bucks, Harris became head coach of the
Harris was an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks from 2000 to 2007.[6]
On July 3, 2008, the
On November 30, 2009, after the
On October 3, 2011, it was announced that Harris would take over as the head coach for the Dallas Mavericks'
Starting with the 2017–2018 season, he is serving as a pregame and postgame analyst on Mavs Live on
International
Harris coached seven seasons in Puerto Rico's
In 1994, he served as consultant for Canada and assisted head coach, Ken Shields, in the World Games in Toronto.
He was an assistant coach under Rudy Tomjanovich with the US national team in the 1998 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal. The team was handicapped by only using college players as there was a lockout in the NBA.[10]
Harris also served as the first foreigner to become coach of the
In the fall of 2011, Harris assisted coach
In 2010, he was awarded the Jerry Colangelo Award for Leadership and character on and off the court at the NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles. In 2014, he received the Coach John Wooden "Keys to Excellence" Award the NCAA Final Four in Dallas.
He is a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, the NAIA Basketball Hall of Fame as well as those of Milligan College and Earlham College.
Personal life
Harris is the father of five children including Golden State Warriors Assistant General manager Larry Harris.[11]
Harris is a devout Christian and is involved in several Christian organizations, among those organizations is the Del and Ann Harris Foundation, which promotes Christian education and missions.[12]
Legacy
On February 15, 2019, Harris was named as one of two 2019 recipients of the John Bunn Award (with Harry Glickman), awarded by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a lifetime achievement honor for those "whose outstanding accomplishments have impacted the high school, college, professional and/or the international game."[13]
On April 2, 2022, Harris was announced as one of sixteen members to be inducted into the
Acting
Harris appeared in some minor roles in
Head coaching record
College
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
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Earlham Quakers (NAIA independent ) (1965–1966)
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1965–66 | Earlham | 14–8 | |||||||
Earlham Quakers (Hoosier College Conference / Hoosier–Buckeye Conference ) (1966–1975)
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1966–67 | Earlham | 15–9 | 6–6 | 4th | |||||
1967–68 | Earlham | 25–3 | 11–1 | 1st | NAIA District 21 Playoffs | ||||
1968–69 | Earlham | 18–8 | 9–3 | 2nd | NAIA District 21 Playoffs | ||||
1969–70 | Earlham | 22–8 | 10–2 | 2nd | NAIA District 21 Playoffs | ||||
1970–71 | Earlham | 24–5 | 7–1 | 1st | NAIA Second Round | ||||
1971–72 | Earlham | 21–9 | 7–1 | 1st | NAIA District 21 Playoffs | ||||
1972–73 | Earlham | 17–11 | 10–6 | 3rd | NAIA District 21 Playoffs | ||||
1973–74 | Earlham | 19–9 | 10–6 | 3rd | NAIA District 21 Playoffs | ||||
Earlham: | 175–70 | 70–26 | |||||||
Total: | 175–70 | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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NBA
Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
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Houston | 1979–80 | 82 | 41 | 41 | .500 | 2nd in Central | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 | Lost in Conference semifinals
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Houston | 1980–81 | 82 | 40 | 42 | .488 | 2nd in Midwest | 21 | 12 | 9 | .571 | Lost in NBA Finals |
Houston | 1981–82 | 82 | 46 | 36 | .561 | 2nd in Midwest | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | Lost in First round
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Houston | 1982–83 | 82 | 14 | 68 | .171 | 6th in Midwest | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
Milwaukee | 1987–88 | 82 | 42 | 40 | .512 | 4th in Central | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | Lost in First round
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Milwaukee | 1988–89 | 82 | 49 | 33 | .598 | 4th in Central | 9 | 3 | 6 | .333 | Lost in Conference semifinals
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Milwaukee | 1989–90 | 82 | 44 | 38 | .537 | 3rd in Central | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | Lost in First round
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Milwaukee | 1990–91 | 82 | 48 | 34 | .585 | 3rd in Central | 3 | 0 | 3 | .000 | Lost in First round
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Milwaukee | 1991–92 | 17 | 8 | 9 | .471 | (resigned) | — | — | — | — | — |
L.A. Lakers | 1994–95 | 82 | 48 | 34 | .585 | 3rd in Pacific | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | Lost in Conference semifinals
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L.A. Lakers | 1995–96 | 82 | 53 | 29 | .646 | 2nd in Pacific | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | Lost in First round
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L.A. Lakers | 1996–97 | 82 | 56 | 26 | .683 | 2nd in Pacific | 9 | 4 | 5 | .444 | Lost in Conference semifinals
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L.A. Lakers | 1997–98 | 82 | 61 | 21 | .744 | 1st in Pacific | 13 | 7 | 6 | .538 | Lost in Conference finals
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L.A. Lakers | 1998–99 | 12 | 6 | 6 | .500 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
Career | 1,013 | 556 | 457 | .549 | 88 | 38 | 50 | .432 |
D-League
Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Texas Legends | 2011–12 | 50 | 24 | 26 | .480 | 4th in Western | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
Career | 50 | 24 | 26 | .480 | — | — | — | — | — |
Awards
Harris has been inducted into the
References
- ^ "Del Harris". NBA. Archived from the original on January 31, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
- ^ "Del Harris | Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
- ^ "Asi es el "Iberia Superstars" que mañana llega a Barcelona" [This is how the "Iberia Superstars", who arrive in Barcelona tomorrow, are [organised]] (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. January 26, 1975. p. 55. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
- ^ "Don Nelson resigned as coach of the Milwaukee Bucks".
- ^ "Harris bails out".
- ^ a b "NBA.com Del Harris". www.nba.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
- ^ K. C. Johnson (July 3, 2008). "Bulls focus on own". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 3, 2008.
- ^ "NBA's Harris retires after 50 seasons on bench". ESPN.com. June 1, 2009. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
- ^ Eddie Sefko (October 3, 2011). "Former Mavericks assistant Del Harris to coach Texas Legends". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011.
- ^ 1998 USA Basketball Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "NBA playoffs: Larry & del Harris have mutual rooting interest in Warriors-Rockets series". May 28, 2018.
- ^ "NBA Legends AC Green, del Harris Honored at All-Star Breakfast". February 21, 2011.
- ^ "Del Harris & Harry Glickman to Receive Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's 2019 John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award". hoophall.com. February 15, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
- NBA.com.
- ^ "Del Harris". IMDb. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
- ^ "Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame » Delmar Harris". Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved April 13, 2010.
- NBA.com.