In the preseason days of the Ben Simmons saga, the Philadelphia 76ers signed Shaquille Harrison to a training camp contract. It was in part to replace the perimeter defense that was missing due to Simmons in action.
Harrison didn’t make the regular-season roster and instead found a home on the Delaware Blue Coats, Philly’s G-League affiliate. The journeyman embraced his G-League experience and now has been rewarded for it in a big way.
Harrison wins the Defensive Player of the Year award with Sixers’ G-League affiliate Blue Coats.
Harrison has been awarded the Defensive Player of the Year for the G-League and what’s crazy is that both he and former Blue Coat teammate, now Moter City Cruise two-way contract player Braxton Key received votes, per Sean Barnard of Philly Sports Network.
Harrison is now the second Blue Coat player to receive the reward after 7-foot-4 big man Christ Koumadje in the 2019-20 season. Both are deserving winning despite them playing completely different positions.
This season, the veteran point guard averaged 12.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.9 steals, while converting 42.7 percent of his field goals and 37.0 percent of his 3-pointers. Not the most impressive defensive stats on the surface but he did help anchor a Blue Coats defense that averaged the most steals per game at 11.8 in the G-League this season.
It’s going to be interesting if this past season with Delaware will help Harrison get a contract with the Sixers or another NBA team, but it’s clear that Harrison worked hard for this award and deserves it.