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LOS ANGELES – All Star voting has come and gone in the NBA and the starters for the 2019 All-Star Game in Charlotte have been announced. L.A. Clippers forward Tobias Harris is hopeful he's able to make his first appearance in the star-studded game in mid-February when the reserves are announced on Thursday evening.
“That would mean a lot,” said Harris. “As a player, you go out and play at a high level to win basketball games, but to get that type of achievement and accomplishment would be huge. I think I’ve played at a really high level this year in helping our team but like I said earlier, I think winning games is the most important thing. And the more games you win will put that into a higher standard for other people to recognize it.”
Harris has indeed played at a really high level this year for the Clippers. In fact, he's playing the best basketball of his eight-year career, averaging career highs in points (21.1), rebounds (7.9), assists (2.5), field goal percentage (50.1 percent), three-point percentage (43.2 percent), and free throw percentage (88.5 percent) through 50 games in the 2018-19 season.
The sixth year forward was named the Western Conference's Player of the Month for the month of November (as well as seven October games) for leading the Clippers to a West best 15-6 record while averaging 21.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists on 52.8 percent shooting from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc.
Not only is he playing well as an individual, but his play has been consistently resulting in wins for the Clippers. No one knew what to expect from these star-less Clippers coming into the season and they surprised everyone when they held the Western Conference's top spot for over a week in December.
Now winners in four of their last five games, Harris has the Clippers back on track and hopes to lead them into the playoffs while fulfilling a longtime NBA goal of making an All-Star team.
“I’ve always had goals of being in the All-Star game as a player,” added Harris. “You guys know me, I push myself to high standards. When I came into the league that was a goal for me to be an All-Star, play at an All-Star level, and just push my game to the limit. I think I have a lot to get better at, too, and continue to improve, so that would be an awesome accomplishment to be in the All-Star game.”
If you ask head coach Doc Rivers, holding a playoff spot without a true star coming into the year and being six games over .500, is the case Harris has made for an All-Star spot.
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“Listen, you look at our record, he's been our best player,” said Rivers. “The case is made by our wins and how he's played. He has both going for him. If we were five games under .500 and he played the same way, then it's a tough case to make, but the way he's played on a winning team and in the West, the case is already made. He's made it. I just hope he gets voted in. I wish I had more say in it.”
While this would be Harris' first All-Star appearance, he got his first taste of the weekend's festivities last year when he was invited to participate in the 2018 Three-Point Contest in Los Angeles. He finished third among eight competitors behind the eventual-champion Devin Booker and runner-up Klay Thompson.
Harris says the experience further fueled his motivation to one day participate in both the Saturday night competitions as well as Sunday night's game.
“Yeah, I do, actually,” replied Harris when I asked him if he wants to participate again. “I really do. After last year, I was like man, shoot the ball well again this year and I would love to be in the three-point competition this year and hopefully win it.
“It was awesome. Last year, when I got the invitation for the three-point contest… As a player, I wanted to be in the All-Star game so I didn’t know… I knew I wanted to do it but I wanted to be an All-Star and then in the three-point contest. It just happened that I wasn’t. Just to be a part of it was motivating to me to one day be an All-Star, be part of the game, and just to get out there and compete.”
For those who didn't know, Harris said the three-point contest is a different animal from how a player would regularly shoot the ball.
“The three-point contest is harder than people think,” Harris admitted. “I put a lot of practice in, too, so I was kind of ready for it, but at the same time I was nervous. It's way different. Like my first day practicing the three-point contest I made like 11, and I could see some of the ball boys, they were looking at me and I was like, ‘Oh man, this is hard.' I didn’t even get all the way around to the last spot. You’ve got to be faster. You kind of have to change it up because of the timing of it. It’s tough.”
As of Monday, January 28th, Harris tells ClutchPoints he has not yet received an invitation to the 2018 Three-Point Shooting contest that will feature big names like Stephen Curry and Dirk Nowitzki as well as some surprising names like Seth Curry and Buddy Hield.
All-Star reserves, which have been selected by coaches around the NBA, will be announced on Thursday night's pre-game episode of TNT's ‘Inside the NBA.'
