There Are Only Two 'I's In 'Devin Harris,' But There Are Lots Of 'I's In 'Avery Johnson'

    Devin Harris has changed offenses, roles, uniforms, cities and teams. But there is one constant about the Mav-turned-Net, who opposes his old Dallas mates tonight: Avery Johnson made him everything he is today, Avery Johnson always knew he would be an All-Star, Avery Johnson is The Way and The Truth and The Life.

   On Dec. 6, 2008, the New York Times asked Clichévry for a comment on Devin’s development. Said the deposed coach:

   Harris, working under Avery’s guidance in Dallas, had “scared the heck out of a lot of the top point guards in the Western Conference. … He had some breakout games against them. I gave him more responsibility last year, and he rose to the challenge. There's no surprise.’’

   On Dec. 18, 2008, David Moore of the Dallas Morning News asked essentially the same question.

   “Devin is having an outstanding, All-Star season,’’ Johnson said. … “We kind of predicted it. If you go back and look at our comments, we talked about him being an All-Star around this time. It's not really a big surprise.’’

   “There’s no surprise’’? And “It’s not really a surprise’’? Well, c’mon, it’s a little bit of a surprise, Coach. Harris – our skinny lil’ Milkface -- has jumped from being a 14-ppg guy to a 24-ppg guy, from being a really good team’s fourth option to being a .500 team’s floor leader and co-No. 1option. Now, the Mavs did talk last year of Devin someday being an All-Star, that much is true. But they also talked of Pavel Podkolzin someday being an All-Star, so whatev. Seriously, what Devin’s done, this quickly and this well? (Remember, after averaging 14 points for the first half of the year in Dallas, he averaged pretty much the same 14 points in the second half in Jersey.) Not even one with “The Miracle Worker’s omnipotence could’ve seen that one coming, right?

   On the other hand, maybe Avery is unusually close to the situation, with the perspective that can only come when a person resides in an Avery tower ... er, ivory tower. ... built of self-referential “I’’s.

   From that New York Times story that was purportedly about Devin:

·         “I gave him more responsibility last year.’’

·         “I'm really just sitting back like a proud big brother

·          “Really enjoying every moment I get to watch him play."

   From this latest Dallas Morning News story that is purportedly about Devin:

·         “I'm just so proud of him.

·          “And the time I worked with him.’’

·          “I can see his growth and maturation.’’

·         “It's well documented I was pretty hard on him, and that was for a reason.’’

·         “But as time went on, I started to ease up on him.’’

·         “I love him.’’

·         “And I'm proud of him.’’

   It really is a heartwarming story. Avery gave so much of himself to Devin Harris that there’s barely enough “I’’ left to go around. … except Avery just keeps on giving. “I’’ after “I’’ after “I.’’ 

    Anyway, this story is supposed to be about Devin, right Avery? So as we anxiously await Devin vs. Kidd and Mavs at Nets, congratulations to the Man of the Hour, the man who deserves all the focus, the man who is The Way and The Truth and The Life.

    Oh, yeah. And congratulations to you, too, Devin.

    9am dec 19 2008