"Dallas Mavericks" Devin Harris Hand Signed 8X10 Color Photo CAS Coa

Description

Up for auction The "Dallas Mavericks" Devin Harris Hand Signed 8X10 Color Photo.
This item is certified authentic by Certified Authentic Service (CAS) and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity and matching hologram.
ES-900A
Devin Lamar Harris
(born February 27, 1983) is an American professional
basketball
player who last played for the
Dallas Mavericks
of the
National Basketball Association
(NBA). Harris attended the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
. Harris was selected with the fifth pick in the
2004 NBA draft
by the
Washington Wizards
. Harris was born and raised in
Milwaukee
,
Wisconsin
; the son of Terry and Julie Harris. Throughout high school, Harris was a superior athlete and took up
basketball
and
volleyball
at
Wauwatosa East High School
. He played volleyball for only one season, a season in which he gained all-conference honors, before he set that aside to focus on basketball. Harris was nagged by injuries after his
sophomore
year of high school and was unable to participate in the summer basketball camps and tournaments that are ever important in the recruiting process. Harris exploded his senior season at Wauwatosa East in 2001, setting school scoring records through an undefeated regular season. Harris was named Wisconsin's "Mr. Basketball" for 2001, edging out
Travis Diener
of
Fond du Lac High School
. Harris finally accepted an offer to play for
Dick Bennett
at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
. Bennett retired in the midst of the upcoming season and by the time Harris arrived on campus,
Bo Ryan
was the head coach. Harris' number 20 jersey was retired by Wauwatosa East at ceremonies held in 2007.
Days prior to the draft, the
Washington Wizards
and
Dallas Mavericks
agreed to a deal that involved the Wizards' 5th overall pick going to the Mavs along with
Jerry Stackhouse
and
Christian Laettner
in exchange for
Antawn Jamison
. NBA rules prevented teams from trading draft picks for two consecutive years (in addition to trade kicker details in Laettner's contract
) so the deal was momentarily delayed until the actual draft in which Washington selected Harris and subsequently traded him to the Mavericks to complete the deal. The Mavs' plan was to bring Harris along slowly under the tutelage of all-star point guard
Steve Nash
but Nash ended up leaving the team through free agency and signing with the
Phoenix Suns
.
In Harris' rookie season, he averaged 5.7 points and 2.2 assist per game, but put up a
PER
of 14.69. He ranked 2nd in the NBA in steals per 48 minutes at 3.15 (behind
Larry Hughes
), and in November 2004 was named the Rookie of the Month. Although he started for much of the early portion of the season, his playing time dwindled as the season progressed. Harris showed marked improvement in the early stages of the
2005–06 season
, especially when it came to scoring; as a result, his minutes increased and he took more ball-handling responsibilities from
Jason Terry
. He is known for his exceptional speed, earning comparisons to other NBA guards like the
Phoenix Suns
'
Leandro Barbosa
and his good friend, the
Miami Heat
's
Dwyane Wade
. He ended the year with averages of 9.9 points and 3.2 assists per game. He improved his jump-shot and his ability to split defenses and get to the rim. Unfortunately, he sustained a leg injury midway through the year and missed most of the rest of the regular season. Harris returned for the
playoffs
and played a huge role in toppling the Mavericks' longtime rivals, the
San Antonio Spurs
. The Spurs had dominated the Mavs in recent playoff history, ending their playoff runs in 6 games in the
2003 Playoffs
and 5 games in the
2001 Playoffs
. Devin Harris and the Mavericks reached the 2006 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Miami Heat 4 games to 2. In the
2006–07 season
, Harris averaged 10.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. After becoming the starting point guard for the Mavericks in the 2006–07 season, he helped lead the Mavericks to a team record of 67 wins in the regular season only to be upset by the eighth-seeded
Golden State Warriors
in the
2007 Playoffs
. Halfway through the
2007–08 season
, Harris was averaging career highs with 14.4 points per game and 5.4 assists per game. He was named a co-captain in 2007–08 along with
Dirk Nowitzki
.