Derek Harper doesn’t know how many times he left the house and offered those three familiar words to his wife Sheila and their four kids, so cliche he never even realized what they meant.
“See you later,” Harper would say.
But no more.
“We have this thing now where when we leave each other we hug and kiss because you’re not guaranteed when you leave you’re going to come back and see each other again,” Harper said. “You take for granted, `See you later.’ You might not. I found that out.”
He found out one day last April when his daughter, Daria, then 15 months old, was found at the bottom of the family’s back yard swimming pool. She was out of her mother’s view for mere minutes, but the lives of Derek and Sheila flashed before their eyes.
Daria was pulled almost lifeless from the pool. Sheila administered CPR, and the baby was on life support and in critical condition for several days before pulling through.
Daria will celebrate her second birthday next week.
“She’s fine,” Harper said. “It’s like she hasn’t skipped a beat, like it never happened. There were no side effects at all. But every time I look at her, I think back to how we almost lost her.”
It’s pretty much all Harper thought about last April, so when he returned to the Orlando Magic after the bedside vigil for Daria, he was sure his basketball career was at an end.
It had been great.
In 15 years, mostly with the Dallas Mavericks, Harper had been an all-defensive team regular, he ranked sixth in the NBA in career steals and was 10th in career three-pointers. He played in 90 playoff games and shares the Finals record for three-pointers in a series. He averaged 13.6 points and 5.5 assists for his career.
But all Harper could think about was his daughter. Basketball seemed unimportant, so when he was asked, he said he would retire. It would have been basketball’s loss–the former University of Illinois star is one of the league’s more professional players, always in shape, a hard worker and a team leader.
“Almost losing Daria, I couldn’t focus on basketball anymore,” Harper said. “And the game was changing so much. You heard these guys always talking about how much they were going to make, what they were going to buy. . . .”
But as he continued to work out, Harper, now 37, realized there was something else he had been taking for granted: his gift to play professional sports.
“If you can contribute, I think you need to get it all out,” he said. “I need to make sure I’m done with it before I get out. While you can play, you should still play.
“I don’t want to walk away wondering, so I’m definitely going to play if there is a season. After the Finals were over last season, I looked at the teams that were in the playoffs and asked myself what teams I could help. I felt I could have helped Miami, Seattle, the Lakers, which I feel is the perfect spot for me now. Even though they’re one of the better young teams, they’re not going to win without stability. Look what teams have been in the Finals the last two years (the Bulls and Jazz). You’ve got to be able to think and know the game.
“I can contribute 20 minutes a game anywhere. I’m in the best shape of my life.”
So Harper thinks about possibilities: The Lakers, who got rid of Nick Van Exel. The Heat, with little backup support for Tim Hardaway and Voshon Lenard. The Bucks, with new coach George Karl, who understands the need for veterans. The Trail Blazers, with a boatload of youngsters. The Magic, his most recent team. Even the Knicks, with whom Harper went to the Finals in 1994 and was on the way to being MVP if the Knicks had won.
And the Bulls.
“I’d love to come to Chicago and play,” Harper said. “You’d never turn down an opportunity like that. Chicago is the team to beat until someone knocks them off, which I think will be soon. But someone still has to do it. I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m not on a good team. I’m past that.
“I think I’m the best catch out there. I’m not going to be demanding $20 million like these other guys. I don’t know that guys should be making $100 million. We’re making stars without them having to prove anything. Kevin Garnett makes $100 million. Does he help his team win? That’s why I think Scottie Pippen should be taken care of. He’s been there, he’s done it. These kids keep taking about how much they’re going to make. We’ve got to get away from that. Play and prove yourselves. I just want a fair deal.”
Either way, Harper knows he has the best deal of all–every time he comes home, he gets to gaze into Daria’s smiling face.
“As serious as the lockout seems, when I look at my little girl I know what is really serious,” he said. “There’s more to life than all this. For my family, this brought us a little closer and helped us appreciate each other more. We don’t take anything for granted.”
Including his career.
