Cheer For This Washington (Chelan) Native in the NBA Playoffs

If you are a displaced fan of the Seattle SuperSonics (RIP) and are having a hard time finding an NBA team to root for in the playoffs this season, we might just have the team or, at least, the person you may want to consider adopting and cheering for moving forward.

Submitted for your approval, Washington State native Joe Harris. The 29 year-old, 6'6" Harris  was born in Chelan, WA in 1991. He went to Chelan High School before attending college at the University of Virginia. He is playing in his 7th season in the National Basketball Association and is currently a small forward with the Brooklyn Nets. He began his pro playing career with the Cleveland Cavaliers after being selected 33rd overall in the 2014 NBA draft.

His father, Joe Sr., is a basketball coach and was inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011. One of his siblings actually played basketball right here in the valley for the YVC Yaks.

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According to his entry on Wikipedia, Harris's has an older sister, Kaiti, and two younger sisters, "Jaicee and Mackenzie. Kaiti played college basketball at Yakima Valley College and Warner Pacific College, Jaicee played volleyball at Washington State, and Mackenzie played volleyball at Chelan High."

While it has been difficult to follow and get in to the NBA since the Sonics were stolen from the Pacific Northwest after the 2004 season, maybe we can rally around a kid from the Evergreen State and pull for his success in this year's playoffs.

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