LAS VEGAS – The fourth-leading scorer in Weber State University history signed a two-year contract extension on Friday worth more than $60-million per season.
The leading scorer in Weber State history was in the starting lineup for the Mavericks at the NBA Summer League.
Differences in Damian Lillard and Jerrick Harding obviously go way beyond the wallet.
Lillard has parlayed a huge work ethic and loads of talent into an NBA career that eventually will land him in the hall of fame.
Harding has parlayed being undersized with a huge work ethic and the terrible luck of coming out of college right when the COVID-19 crisis hit into a two-year journey through the Czech Republic that has led him to the Mavericks’ summer-league roster.
And one of the things that still gets him noticed is being No. 1 on any list that has a six-time NBA all-star close behind him.
“Some dude named Dame Lillard,” Harding said when asked who’s behind him on the Weber scoring list. “But I’ll say this, though. He was there three years, three and a half years. I was there four.
“But still, it’s a big accomplishment. It’s still surreal to me. People ask me all the time how it feels. It won’t hit me until maybe they retire my jersey or something like that.”
Lillard was injured for part of a season when he was in college, and finished with 1,934 points in 104 games.
Harding is listed at 6-1, but that’s probably a stretch. He finished four seasons at Weber State with 2,266 points in 122 games.
But when he got ready to move on from college is when things got weird in his basketball life. Like a lot of people at that time, Harding faced a lot of uncertainty and wasn’t quite sure what to do.
“I ended my senior year, and this was in 2020, so COVID hit and all that was going on,” he said. “So basically the whole summer I was waiting. There were no workouts, no summer league, there was no anything.
“And ERA Nymburk, they’re the best team in the Czech Republic. They play in the Champions League. So I figured it would be a good spot for me. I didn’t want to sit and wait. I might not have a job, know what I mean if I stayed in the states.”
Fate helped a little. Harding had an assistant coach and a teammate at Weber State who were from the Czech Republic.
“I contacted them and asked about the team, tried to do my research,” he said. “And I just ended up out there.”
So, given the chance to play tour guide, Harding gave his breakdown on what it was like in that part of the world.
“It was cool,” he said. “When I first got there, I was like a deer in headlights. I didn’t know really what to expect. The older people don’t really speak English. The younger people do, so that helped. But it took me a minute to adjust.
“We were actually 30 minutes from Prague. It’s nice. It’s really pretty. The architecture is all old. It’s beautiful. The weather’s not, but the country is.”
After two years with Nymburk, Harding decided it was time to make a concerted effort to get into the NBA.
He came through the Mavericks’ free-agent camp last month, then agreed to join the summer-league team. He’s hoping for a spot in training camp in September – if not with the Mavericks then with somebody else.
And, as always, he’s having to overcome his size.
He’s been one of the smallest guys on the court his whole life and he’s always figured out a way to be effective, he said.
And there’s a key to that, which he’s happy to pass along to any younger players who are undersized.
“I’ve got a big heart and play defense and do whatever it takes to win. I’ve done that, basically, my whole career,” Harding said. “I just want to show that I belong – that I’m a pro.
“Heart is the biggest thing. You have to work twice as hard as the people who are way bigger than you. That, and having heart, are the biggest things.”
BRIEFLY: The Mavericks will practice on Sunday before resuming summer-league action Monday at 9 p.m., Dallas time, against Utah. The game from Cox Pavilion will be televised on ESPNU . . . Much has been made in Las Vegas about local product Jaden Hardy coming into the NBA with a chip on his shoulder because he slipped to the second round (37th overall) in last month’s draft. But the subject hasn’t really been approached by the Mavericks. “We never really had that conversation about: hey, you got overlooked or dropped in the draft,” summer-league coach Greg St. Jean said. “We said, you ended up where you’re supposed to be. You’re supposed to be with us, we’re supposed to have you. We’re supposed to be the right partnership. We felt really good about it. He came in eager to work and he’s somebody who is going to have a bright future in our league, but a lot of that comes from his intrinsic motivation.”
Twitter: @ESefko
Share and comment