Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Jalen Harris was born on August 14, 1998, in Dallas, Texas. He is a guard in the NBA.

He is the son of Karlin Kennedy and Erion Harris, both of whom played basketball at SMU, and has two younger brothers and a sister. His mother gave birth to him at the age of 19 but returned to the floor at SMU for her junior season and graduated as the Mustangs' all-time leader in points, rebounds, blocks, and field-goal percentage. Harris grew up in Duncanville and played basketball, football, and baseball. He gave up football after an injury in middle school, after which he trained with his father to become a high-level basketball player. His father formed the travel team Dallas Heroes around his son in middle school.

Harris began his collegiate career at Louisiana Tech. Harris was named to the First Team All-Mountain West Conference and conference newcomer of the year. On November 18, 2020, Harris was drafted in the second round, 59th overall, in the 2020 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors.