An unexpected situation was brought to light on Wednesday, surrounding former teammates Paul George and Montrezl Harrell.
Harrell, a former Sixth Man of the Year, had a heated interaction with the newly-signed Philadelphia 76ers star during the NBA Bubble in 2020. The two were teammates on the Los Angeles Clippers.
In a piece for The Players’ Tribune, Harrell wrote, “I came back to the Bubble for this, after having to bury my grandma in the ground, bro. The person who raised me, the reason I play this game. I was so f--ked up mentally, more than I even knew. Alright, with that in mind…. I told P right then and there, in front of coaches and everybody, "I will knock you the f--k out, bro. You're trippin'. You was wrong, bro. You're WRONG." I can look back on that now and realize I went too far in the heat of the moment. I realize this is a business and you can't talk like that to the star player. But when you're going through grief, you only see what's right in front of you. And it was just all bad from there.”
Mental health is an aspect of athletes lives that goes far too overlooked, especially when unaware of the circumstances they’re dealing with. It’s clear Harrell would change how the situation went down in a heartbeat. Since departing from the Clippers, he has bounced around to numerous organizations, including the Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, and most recently the 76ers.
It’s clear Harrell isn’t ready to call a quit on his NBA career, writing, “This past year opened my eyes. I realized I’m not ready to hang this game up — and I have a lot of game left in me.”
