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Harkless Hopes to Change Perception as a Trail Blazer

Moe Harkless doesn’t want you to get the wrong idea about where he’s from. While people may have preconceived notions with regard to what growing up in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, NY is like, Harkless says it’s not as bad as some would make it out to be.

“Where I grew up is always going to have a place in my heart,” said Harkess. “Love Queens, love New York…You hear the typical neighborhood stories about the neighborhood kids, but it wasn’t really that rough. It was a little tough, the neighborhood I grew up in, drugs and violence and all that stuff, but I kind of stayed away from that stuff.”

Having a tight-knit family will help do that. Along with remembering Queens as the place where he first fell in love with basketball, Harkless recalls good times spent with his extended family in the New York burrough.

“We were all in one house, me, my mom, my grandma, my aunt, my cousin, my sister, my little brother, we all lived together,” said Harkless. “We were all close, we all grew up close, even my cousins that didn’t live with me. My grandmother’s house was always the spot. Everybody would come visit us, come sleep over. It was just a lot of fun. I would always be with my cousins and kids on my block, kids from across the street, kids that live next door. I’m always big on family. I spend a lot of time with mom because I grew up without my dad. My mom is so important to me, pretty much held me down my whole life. Once my little brother was born, I kind of treated him like he was my son sometimes. I love my whole family to death.”

Perhaps that love is the reason why Harkless doesn’t want stereotypes about growing up in the inner city to define the way people view his home and kin any more than he wants people to think the 3.5 points and 2.4 rebounds he averaged in 15.0 minutes per game last season with the Orlando Magic accurately represents who he is as a player. While it’s true that he logged 37 DNPs and shot just 40 percent from the field and 18 percent from three, he’s out to prove last season was an anomaly.

“I’m excited just being able to come in here, change whatever the perception is, show what kind of person and player I am,” said Harkless. “I feel like this is a great opportunity. A great group of young guys, an All-Star point guard in Damian (Lillard), guys like CJ (McCollum) and Meyers (Leonard) who’ve been here and know the system. They help out every day. We’ve even got older younger like (Al-Farouq) Aminu and Gerald Henderson. We’ve got a good group of young guys and we’ll all be able to learn together and grow together.”

Which is exactly what the Trail Blazers are banking on. At 22 years old, Harkless, who was selected with the 15th overall pick of the 2012 Draft after one season at St. John’s, still has a lot of room to learn and grow. That potential is why many viewed the trade, in which Portland sent nothing to Orlando but a future conditional second-round pick that is unlikely to ever be conveyed, as an unmitigated success for the Trail Blazers. Now it’s up to Harkless to prove he should be part of Portland’s plan going forward.

“It’s a brand new opportunity,” said Harkless. “It doesn’t matter what happened in Orlando, whatever the situation was there. I’m here now, so that’s all that matters. It’s a brand new opportunity for me. Coming in here, I have the chance to make what I want to have happen, happen. It’s really up to me. I’ve just got to work for it and earn it.”