‘The Machine’ drives Clippers | News & Observer
"He just works out all the damn day," Welch said.
"This is the only way I know," Harris said. "One thing I always stand by is being a professional.
"When I'm with family in Long Island, it's like our little safe house. That's where we are. Nobody's coming in. It's not too many distractions. We're just there, we're working."
In his eighth NBA season and first full year with the Clippers, that work has produced career highs in points (21.0), rebounds (8.5) and three-point shooting (41.6 percent). Only three players in NBA history have averaged 21 or more points, at least eight rebounds and shot 41 percent or better for an entire season while attempting at least 100 three-pointers: Larry Bird, Karl-Anthony Towns and Dirk Nowitzki.
Coaches found a willing student. Harris now averages 2.3 assists, close to his career high, and his numbers haven't come at the expense of others. Harris' usage rate hasn't spiked.
"He wants to be the best out of everybody," said his younger sister, Tori, a sophomore guard at James Madison University. "I knew he would be successful because of that work ethic. I knew."
Basketball was central to the family and his father had big plans for Harris and his siblings. His father organized and coached an AAU team that Harris – a self-described short, chubby, unathletic kid – played on while feeling pressure to earn his minutes. When his team, which included a younger brother, Terry, became among Long Island's best, their father took them to tournaments in Harlem and Brooklyn where Harris played against future pros Lance Stephenson and Kemba Walker.
"My father always wanted us to play against tougher competition, the grittier-type players," Harris said. "There'd be the pressure to prove everyone wrong and to show everybody that I was the real deal."
As a McDonald's All-American and one-and-done first-round pick following a season at Tennessee, Harris took an accelerated path to the NBA. Once there, stability and success didn't come as easily.
Harris took seven NBA seasons to shoot better than 40 percent on three-pointers.
He was traded four times before landing in L.A. midway through last season. During the season's final 32 games, executives, coaches and teammates came to understand Harris as a voracious seeker of information.
Coach Doc Rivers likened Harris' ability to process huge amounts of scouting reports, statistics and film study before games to that of Kevin Garnett.
"He's like a computer, I swear he is," Rivers said.
Harris considers George Gervin, the 16th-leading scorer in NBA history who was represented during his career by Torrel Harris, a mentor since middle school.
He churns through books on self-help, motivational and leadership topics, walking into the locker room before every game with a hardback in hand. He switched to a vegan diet. On nights the Clippers don't play, assistants know if they text Harris about another game, he'll respond with a detailed breakdown.
He likes the nickname the Clippers have assigned him: "The Machine."
"Anything that can be associated with a machine is Tobias," assistant Sam Cassell said. "You want to do something he's not programmed to do? You've got to program it."
"It's a little frustrating at times but you have to know that everybody is not the same," he said. "One of the biggest things is lead by example and have people see what you do."
If Harris' ventures into New York as a kid were about developing toughness, his summertime retreats to Long Island as a professional are about keeping that edge.
Specifically, it's about proving his worth.
Harris and his father, who serves as his agent, understood the risk and didn't make a hasty decision.
He chose to bet on himself instead, trusting the countless hours he'd invested in his training would pay off.
So far, it's helped Harris and the Clippers become two of the NBA's biggest surprises this season.
The game he takes so seriously is "a whole lot of fun" right now, he said, grinning. "A lot."
‘The Machine’ drives Clippers | News & Observer
"He just works out all the damn day," Welch said.
"This is the only way I know," Harris said. "One thing I always stand by is being a professional.
"When I'm with family in Long Island, it's like our little safe house. That's where we are. Nobody's coming in. It's not too many distractions. We're just there, we're working."
In his eighth NBA season and first full year with the Clippers, that work has produced career highs in points (21.0), rebounds (8.5) and three-point shooting (41.6 percent). Only three players in NBA history have averaged 21 or more points, at least eight rebounds and shot 41 percent or better for an entire season while attempting at least 100 three-pointers: Larry Bird, Karl-Anthony Towns and Dirk Nowitzki.
Coaches found a willing student. Harris now averages 2.3 assists, close to his career high, and his numbers haven't come at the expense of others. Harris' usage rate hasn't spiked.
"He wants to be the best out of everybody," said his younger sister, Tori, a sophomore guard at James Madison University. "I knew he would be successful because of that work ethic. I knew."
Basketball was central to the family and his father had big plans for Harris and his siblings. His father organized and coached an AAU team that Harris – a self-described short, chubby, unathletic kid – played on while feeling pressure to earn his minutes. When his team, which included a younger brother, Terry, became among Long Island's best, their father took them to tournaments in Harlem and Brooklyn where Harris played against future pros Lance Stephenson and Kemba Walker.
"My father always wanted us to play against tougher competition, the grittier-type players," Harris said. "There'd be the pressure to prove everyone wrong and to show everybody that I was the real deal."
As a McDonald's All-American and one-and-done first-round pick following a season at Tennessee, Harris took an accelerated path to the NBA. Once there, stability and suc
cess didn't come as easily.
Harris took seven NBA seasons to shoot better than 40 percent on three-pointers.
He was traded four times before landing in L.A. midway through last season. During the season's final 32 games, executives, coaches and teammates came to understand Harris as a voracious seeker of information.
Coach Doc Rivers likened Harris' ability to process huge amounts of scouting reports, statistics and film study before games to that of Kevin Garnett.
"He's like a computer, I swear he is," Rivers said.
Harris considers George Gervin, the 16th-leading scorer in NBA history who was represented during his career by Torrel Harris, a mentor since middle school.
He churns through books on self-help, motivational and leadership topics, walking into the locker room before every game with a hardback in hand. He switched to a vegan diet. On nights the Clippers don't play, assistants know if they text Harris about another game, he'll respond with a detailed breakdown.
He likes the nickname the Clippers have assigned him: "The Machine."
"Anything that can be associated with a machine is Tobias," assistant Sam Cassell said. "You want to do something he's not programmed to do? You've got to program it."
"It's a little frustrating at times but you have to know that everybody is not the same," he said. "One of the biggest things is lead by example and have people see what you do."
If Harris' ventures into New York as a kid were about developing toughness, his summertime retreats to Long Island as a professional are about keeping that edge.
Specifically, it's about proving his worth.
Harris and his father, who serves as his agent, understood the risk and didn't make a hasty decision.
He chose to bet on himself instead, trusting the countless hours he'd invested in his training would pay off.
So far, it's helped Harris and the Clippers become two of the NBA's biggest surprises this season.
The game he takes so seriously is "a whole lot of fun" right now, he said, grinning. "A lot."