Former NBA veteran Manny Harris had his first practice with NLEX on Tuesday. Photo taken from the NLEX Road Warriors’ Twitter account
MANILA, Philippines—Despite the strong showing of Olu Ashaolu, NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao felt that the chance to tap the services of a proven NBA talent in Manny Harris was too hard to pass up.
Guiao eventually made the tough decision to let go of Ashaolu and bring in Harris, who had stints with NBA teams Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks before wreaking havoc overseas and in the developmental league.
“We thank Olu for helping us get to where we are, for the strong start this conference. But the opportunity to have Manny Harris opened up for us and we had to make the difficult decision to grab the chance to realize a long-standing desire to have Manny play for the Road Warriors,” said Guiao in a statement posted on NLEX’s Facebook account Monday.
NLEX is currently tied with San Miguel Beer in second place after going 4-1 with Ashaolu in tow.
Guiao, though, believes Harris is capable of taking the Road Warriors to even greater heights.
“Manny is a legit NBA talent who has the ability to impact the game on both ends, a proven scorer and defender—a winner in his chosen field,” Guiao said.
Ashaolu, who averaged 22.6 points and 10.0 rebounds in five games in the Governors’ Cup, has nothing but love for the Road Warriors.
“I enjoyed my time with NLEX. It’s a great team atmosphere where everyone came in to work and get better each day,” he said. “I have no doubt these guys will continue to fight and surpass people’s expectations.”
After starring for the Michigan Wolverines in college, Harris went undrafted in the NBA in 2010 but managed to make the Cavaliers’ roster and played two seasons in Cleveland.
He then, landed spot on the Lakers in the 2013-2014 season where he played nine games and averaged 8.1 points and 3.2 rebounds.
The 30-year-old Harris went overseas and played in Turkey, China and the G-League before seeing action for the Mavericks in the 2016-2017 season for four games.
The Road Warriors are set to parade Harris, who had his first practice Tuesday, on Wednesday against the Columbian Dyip at Ynares Center in Antipolo.