Elias Harris (born 6 July 1989) is a German professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for Bayern Munich of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

(BBL) and the EuroLeague. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the ...

and plays for the German national team.

Junior career

Harris was one of the top junior players in Germany when he graduated from Friedrich-Magnus-Schwerd-Gymnasium in his hometown of Speyer, Germany. As a German junior, he spent four years playing for BIS Speyer in the German Pro B third division for four years, averaging 20.9 ppg and 9.2 rpg in 2008–09. He also competed with the German national junior basketball team at the 2005

FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The FIBA U16 European Championship, previously known as the FIBA Europe Championship for Cadets, is a youth basketball competition that was inaugurated with the 1971 edition. Through the 2003 edition, it was held every second year, but since th ...

; 2006 and 2007

FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The FIBA U18 European Championship, originally known as the European Championship for Juniors, is a youth men's basketball competition that was inaugurated with the 1964 edition. It was held biennially through the 2002 edition. From the 2004 e ...

; and 2008 and 2009

FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The FIBA U20 European Championship, previously known as the European Championship for Men '22 and Under', is a men's youth basketball competition that was inaugurated with the 1992 edition. Through the 2004 edition, it was held biennially, but ...

College career

Harris committed to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I squad

prior to the 2009–10 season. He immediately saw action with the Bulldogs despite being a freshman; in his second game of the season, against powerhouse #2-ranked Michigan State University, he scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed a team-high 9 rebounds in a narrow 75–71 loss.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2013 NBA draft, Harris joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the

2013 NBA Summer League The 2013 NBA Summer League is a pro basketball league run by the NBA just after the 2013 NBA draft. It gives newly drafted players a chance to test their skills against each other, and to give them a feel for professional basketball. All 30 NBA ...

. He finished the summer league with averages of 10.2 points and 5.6 rebounds. On 14 August 2013, he signed a multi-year deal with the Lakers. During his rookie season, he had multiple assignments with the Los Angeles D-Fenders. On 29 November 2013, he was waived by the Lakers. On 13 December 2013, he signed a two-year deal with

Brose Bamberg Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketbal ...

of Germany and in April 2015 had his contract extended through the 2016–17 season. In March 2017, Harris signed a new deal with the Bamberg side, which kept him with the club until 2020. In July 2014, Harris joined the Phoenix Suns for the

2014 NBA Summer League The 2014 NBA Summer League consists of two pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA and the Orlando Magic just after the 2014 NBA Draft. Ten teams took part in the week-long summer league at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, from July 5 t ...

. In 2020, he did not have his contract renewed by the Bamberg team. During his seven years with the team, Harris won three German championships and two German Cup titles. He served as team captain. On 23 September 2020, Harris signed with

Riesen Ludwigsburg Riesen Ludwigsburg ( en, Giants Ludwigsburg), for sponsorship reasons MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, is a professional basketball club that is based in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the first tier of ...

of the Basketball Bundesliga. On 3 January 2021, he signed with

Basket Zaragoza Basket Zaragoza 2002 S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Basket Zaragoza and as Casademont Zaragoza for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Zaragoza, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. Their home arena is th ...

of the Liga ACB. On July 12, 2022, he has signed with Bayern Munich of the

(BBL).

International career

Harris made his debut with the senior

German national basketball team The Germany men's national basketball team (german: Deutsche Basketballnationalmannschaft or ''Die Mannschaft'') represents Germany in international basketball competition. The team is directed by the German Basketball Federation (''Deutscher ...

at the

EuroBasket 2009 The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

. Although he was the second-youngest player on the team, he averaged 12 minutes per game while seeing action in all six games for the German squad.

Personal life

Elias's father Mike is an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

former professional player who played basketball in Germany while his mother Svenja is a former

Germany women's national basketball team The Germany women's national basketball team is the women's basketball team that represents Germany in international competitions. It is governed by the German Basketball Federation (DBB). Competition record Roster The roster for the EuroBaske ...

player.

References

External links

Profile
at Realgm.com
Profile
at Eurobasket.com
Profile
at Euroleague.net

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Elias 1989 births Living people 2010 FIBA World Championship players American men's basketball players Basket Zaragoza players Brose Bamberg players FC Bayern Munich basketball players German expatriate basketball people in Spain German men's basketball players German people of African-American descent German people of American descent Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball players Liga ACB players Los Angeles D-Fenders players Los Angeles Lakers players National Basketball Association players from Germany People from Speyer Power forwards (basketball) Riesen Ludwigsburg players Small forwards Sportspeople from Rhineland-Palatinate Undrafted National Basketball Association players