It's been a busy time for Adelaide 36ers forward Hyrum Harris who recently re-joined the team in Adelaide after representing his homeland at the latest FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in Manila back in February. 

After a three-hour long training session, Harris sat down to discuss how he went from growing up in a rugby league-mad family, to now representing New Zealand at an international level and performing his NBL career best for the Sixers over the weekend.

“For my first eight years I never played basketball and I was actually brought up in a rugby league family. Rugby League is my family’s number one sport but it was when I moved to a city called Hamilton where my cousins were playing basketball that I ended up playing one game with them and haven’t looked back since”, said Harris.

“When I got to around the age of 14 my parents told me I had to focus on one sport only, and I obviously chose basketball and now I’m here playing for the Sixers”.

Discussions around Harris playing for New Zealand at the FIBA Qualifiers in Manila started back in September 2021 before he even arrived in Adelaide, but with the ongoing pandemic the prospects of this happening became uncertain. When Harris finally got the green light to go, he was elated to represent his country at one of the highest honours.  

“I got selected to play for New Zealand and it was awesome – I loved representing my country, I love my country so much. Putting on the Tall Blacks jersey has always been one of my lifelong goals, even before I started taking basketball seriously. I’ve always wanted to wear the black singlet so the whole experience was just a real honour”, said Harris.

Images via Tall Blacks

Harris continued to hit goals when he was selected to lead the Haka at the opening of the Qualifiers.

“I had the honour of leading the Haka and that decision was made about a week leading up to the games and was decided amongst the players. Leading it was a dream come true in itself – I could never have pictured leading the Haka for my country let alone at an international level”, said Harris.

Despite the initial nerves, Harris explained how his adrenaline took over and it was an experience he will never forget.

“The team only had a couple of practices and right up until the game I was really nervous, but the moment I started  my adrenaline just took over, nothing else really mattered and it was just an awesome experience”.

“I know what it looks like from the outside but while you’re doing it, it’s a very surreal experience; you’ve got goosebumps, bloods rushing…knowing the meaning behind it and understanding what you’re saying just gives you the extra motivation to try your hardest”.

Harris hit a career milestone over the weekend after starting for the first time as a Sixer, as well as achieving an NBL career best of 11 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. Ever so humbly, he looks at the stats with a matter-of-fact mentality and shifts his focus onto making an impact to the scoreboard from the second he takes the court.

“When going into games I don’t really think about starting or how many minutes I’m going to get, I always just try and focus about what happens when I’m on court. So when I started on Sunday, I just said to myself play normally, play how you know you can play, bring the energy, be aggressive, and I just backed myself. Luckily a few shots went in for me and I was able to contribute and do my job”.

Although making finals is no longer on the cards, the Sixers fired up and took a 100-92 victory against South East Melbourne Phoenix at Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Sunday.

“I thought we did really well to win the game against a team who are competing for a top four position. Obviously, we’re not making the play offs, but throughout the season when playing against top four sides we’ve always been right in there, it’s just always come down to small errors that have let the team down. The fact we were able to hold the lead on Sunday and not let too many errors interfere with the score, it was great to walk away with the win”, said Harris.

“Individually I think I did alright. I just went in there and tried to do the best job I possibly could. You live with the results – as long as you go in there and try your best and give it your all you can’t really dwell on what happens”.

Look out for Hyrum back at Adelaide Entertainment Centre when the Adelaide 36ers face the Tasmania JackJumpers, 1 April at 7:00pm ACDT.

Tickets are available for the last three home games of the season here.

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