Collectibles

Item Description

Derek Harper is a retired American professional basketball player. A Second-Team All-American at the University of Illinois, he was the 11th overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft and spent 16 seasons as a point guard in the National Basketball Association with the Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers. Harper is widely regarded as one of the best players to never have been selected to an All-Star game. On December 18, 2017, the Mavericks announced that they were planning to retire Harper's no. 12 jersey, which was eventually retired on January 7, 2018.

Harper lives in Dallas with his family. His daughter Dana Harper was a contestant on season 11 of The Voice. He is now a game analyst for the Dallas Mavericks on their locally broadcast games. Beginning in fall 2005, he was the weekend sports anchor at KTXA serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex until the station ended its newscasts. The Dallas Mavericks retired Derek Harper #12 jersey during halftime of a game between the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, January 7, 2018.

This auction is for an authentic autographed basketball signed by Derek Harper #12

Shipping charges apply if not a local pick up

Item Special Note

donated by ALS

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. A-myo-trophic comes from the Greek language. "A" means no. "Myo" refers to muscle, and "Trophic" means nourishment – "No muscle nourishment." When a muscle has no nourishment, it "atrophies" or wastes away. "Lateral" identifies the areas in a person's spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As this area degenerates, it leads to scarring or hardening ("sclerosis") in the region.

To find a Center near you, visit http://www.alsa.org/community/centers-clinics/.

ALS usually strikes people between the ages of 40 and 70, and it is estimated there are at least 16,000 Americans who have the disease at any given time (although this number fluctuates). For unknown reasons, military veterans are approximately twice as likely to be diagnosed with the disease as the general public. Notable individuals who have been diagnosed with ALS include baseball great Lou Gehrig, theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author Stephen Hawking, Hall of Fame pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Toto bassist Mike Porcaro, Senator Jacob Javits, actor David Niven, “Sesame Street” creator Jon Stone, boxing champion Ezzard Charles, NBA Hall of Fame basketball player George Yardley, golf caddie Bruce Edwards, musician Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter), photographer Eddie Adams, entertainer Dennis Day, jazz musician Charles Mingus, former vice president of the United States Henry A. Wallace, U.S. Army General Maxwell Taylor, and NFL football players Steve Gleason, O.J. Brigance and Tim Shaw.