Harris enjoys “banner” return to arena he once called home
DALLAS» It’s like Devin Harris never left.
Despite being dealt to the Nuggets at last month’s trade deadline, a banner featuring Harris in a Mavericks uniform is still prominently displayed outside the main entrance to American Airlines Center.
Harris chuckled Tuesday morning upon being shown a photo of the banner ahead of his first matchup against his former team. Then Harris quipped that his key card to access the building still works.
Harris spent parts of nine seasons with the Mavericks, averaging 8.6 points, 3.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game and helping them reach the NBA Finals in 2006. Since the trade, Harris’ former team has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Owner Mark Cuban admitted to “tanking” on Julius Erving’s podcast, and Sports Illustrated published an investigative piece detailing a culture of sexual harassment and domestic violence involving former president and CEO Terdema Ussery and former Mavs.com beat writer Earl K. Sneed.
“It’s hard. We don’t see it,” Harris said of the conduct described in the Sports Illustrated piece. “We don’t spend time with (the people on the business side) every day. We may see them occasionally on game days, but it’s not something we physically see on a daily basis.”
Harris averaged 6.0 points and 2.0 assists in 17 minutes over his eight games with Denver entering Tuesday. Bubbling frustrations from Harris about his play prompted a conversation with coach Michael Malone after last week’s loss to the Clippers. Malone empha- sized the Nuggets need Harris to play with pace and “be a pest” on the defensive end.
“You get traded to a team that’s playing at a high level and in a great rhythm,” Malone said, “and all of a sudden, there’s 24 games to go and you’re asked to just fit in. Just like Paul Millsap coming back, it’s so hard this time of the year.”
Harris quickly darted out of Monday afternoon’s practice, relishing the opportunity to pick up his daughters from school because his family has stayed in Dallas since the trade. He received a warm ovation from the home crowd during Tuesday’s game.
After all, the front of the arena makes it look like Harris never left. Color scheme changing? Burgun- dy could be introduced as part of the Nuggets’ color scheme for the 2018-19 season, according to a report by SportsLogos.net.
The report details changes to the Nuggets’ pickax logo featured this season on the “City” alternate jerseys, adding burgundy trim to the gold-and-white axes, mountains and basketball and navy blue background. This season, Denver has moved away from powder blue on jerseys and logos in favor of the darker blue.
Quotable.
Malone, on Paul Millsap preaching defensive improvements in huddles: “It’s like music to my ears, like a light shining through stormy clouds. Somebody actually talking about defense that is not a coach, I love that.”