Devin Harris is often the smallest player on the court but there’s no doubt he has one of the largest hearts in the league.

This season the 6’3″ point guard has put the New Jersey Nets on his back by averaging 23.2 points and a team high 6.2 assists. While those numbers are impressive, the stat that jumps out at you are the 11.4 free throws per game he’s attempting which ranks him first in the NBA.

Despite being one of the smaller players in the NBA, he’s attacking the rim with reckless abandon and it appears his mental toughness is rubbing off on his teammates.

“It’s a constant attack mentality,” Harris told Hoops Addict. “If they see me attacking the basket like I’ve been doing then it shows the guys they can be aggressive as well. That’s the kind of mind set we need to have as a team. We need to always attack and not settle for jump shots as much.”

Friday night against the Toronto Raptors, the Nets floor general took mental toughness to another level as he returned in the third quarter after vomiting in the Nets locker room.

“I don’t know if you know this, but Devin (Harris) vomited in the third quarter,” Nets head coach Lawrence Frank admitted to the media after the game on Friday. “He vomited but came back and showed great grit.”

Great grit could be the understatement of the year.  I don’t know you about you, but after I’m sick to my stomach the last thing I’m thinking about is playing basketball in front of 20,000 fans and countless more watching the game at home.

Not Harris, as he scored 23 of his 30 points after vomiting. Instead of taking a seat on the bench or staying in the locker room he came back into the game and helped his team secure a huge win.

“I knew I was going to come back,” a smiling Harris told the media after the game. “I got those bad fluids up out of me and I felt great. No problem at all.”

With Harris may appear unwilling to soak up praise from the media for his leadership, Vince Carter, a man who is not new to the media limelight, eagerly sung the praise of his teammate.

“He’s playing off the charts,” Vince Carter boasted to Hoops Addict following the game against Toronto. “By him wanting to be the leader and help out with the leadership of the team has really taken him to another level. We trust in him, we believe in him and when he wasn’t playing as well earlier in the game (as he had been so far this season) I just pulled him aside and (reminded him) that ‘I’m in your corner. You are the catalyst of this team and if you don’t play well we don’t win.’ The next thing I know he went crazy. He’s going to be important for our season.”

When Harris was asked about the leadership role he’s taken on this season, the humble point guard shrugged off the role as something that’s just part of being a point guard.

“Point guards, we don’t really have a choice. We kind of fall into it.  I’m trying to embrace it as much as possible. I don’t really do to much of the vocal part – I let Vince (Carter) do that – but I just try to go out there and lead by example by playing hard, playing through injuries and doing those sorts of things to help the team.”

Just like Harris was thrust into a leadership role as a point guard, if you’re playing with him then you have no choice but to follow his example. When the smallest person on the court is attacking the rim and playing through an upset stomach you have no choice but to admire them and follow their example.

If the entire team continues to play with the heart and intensity of Harris then the Nets will enjoy a successful season to match that of their sensational point guard.

Photo Credit: ICON Sports Media