Advertisement - scroll for more content
Al Harrington on Luka Doncic: He always flames out at the end of season
Al Harrington: With Luka, I'm a big fan. I think he's one of the greatest players ever. You know what I'm saying? Like I said, my concern is always at the end of the season, he kind of flames out just because one, it's a long season, and two, if you're not taking care of yourself along the way when it gets to the playoffs, it becomes so intense and the games are like every other day. It just becomes a different kind of demand on your body. It could be concerning especially if you’re sitting there thinking about paying him $400 million.
Sloane Knows: Maybe Doncic is going to the cookie dough places. Al Harrington: Ah, for sure. Yeah, it seems that way. And what happens is it sucks, right? Because all the European players that that come to the United States, they eat food that's like not processed and not as good as our food. So when they get here, like I had I have bunch of teammates, they get here and they come in, they weigh 180 pounds and then by the time we get done with the season, they're like 210. And it's just because they found cookies and they found ice cream.
Al Harrington: So I go over, and Steph's on the phone. He had a crib in Atlanta for the summer. He had the drop-top Benz 600, just leaning on it, talking on the phone. I go talk to my cousin, then I start talking to Steph. He asks, "What you doing in town?" I say, "I'm visiting Georgia Tech." And he’s like, "How much they paying you?" I'm like, "Paying me for what?" He's like, "To go to school." I say, "They ain't paying me nothing." He says, "You going to school for free?" I say, "I ain't commit yet." He was like, "Bro—uh, what is his name? Oh my God, I just saw the coach the other day. I just saw him two days ago." Steph was about to lose it—he was like, "Call him!" I can’t remember his name, but we called him. Steph was like, "Okay, okay, okay." Then the coach says, "Al, I’ll see you in the morning." We hung up the phone, and... I ain't gonna say what they offered me, but they made something make sense. If I was gonna go to school, I should have gone, you know what I'm saying? I didn’t go, obviously.
Al Harrington on his stint in China: 'The hotel buffet had like monkey brains on it'
Al Harrington: "Stephon Marbury convinced me to come to China. That's when I learned 'all money ain't good money'. They offered me a $3 million contract. That's good, that's great money, right? When I got there, I knew. As soon as I landed, as I was coming out to the sky and I looked out the window I was like 'Oh hell no'. Where am I landing? So I was in a five-star hotel, but the hotel was terrible, it was so bad, dog. So I go upstairs to eat, they got like a buffet and they got a buffet that rotates, and bro it got like monkey brains on it, it's like 'oh what the hell!' I called my agent and I was like you have to tell them that there has to be a better hotel than this, there's no way this is the best hotel."
Advertisement
Al Harrington on missing first meeting with Larry Bird: 'I feel like to this day he held that against me the whole two years he coached me'
Al Harrington on missing first meeting with Larry Bird: My mother was like ‘I can't believe you missed this flight blah blah’… When I walk into the arena for the press conference I see my mom and I see her face, she looks so disappointed, right? So I walked in and Larry Bird looked at me, reached his hand out to me and he said ‘Don't f*cking be late again.’ That's what he told me! He didn't say ‘hi’, he didn't say ‘welcome to the team’, he said ‘don't ever f*cking be late again’. That was the first thing Larry Bird said to me, Larry Legend bro, the dude I used to watch on TV dog, like that's how he greets me, I'm excited to meet Larry Bird and that's how he greets me, bro. So yes I missed it, I feel like to this day he held that against me the whole two years he coached me. I really do. (…) I think it definitely worked against me, man. I just feel like Larry never liked me or like you know because of that he really held that against me, and it wasn't my fault, it was my fault but it was… I mean, the dude could not get his big behind in the damn car! Q. Maybe Larry will see this and he'll finally know the reason behind it. Al Harrington: I told him then! I was like ‘Look at this dude!’ And he was just like ‘I don't care’.
Al Harrington on Rick Carlisle's coaching: "My best X and O coach, I would say, was Rick Carlisle. I just felt like he was a wizard with that pen. Whatever he drew up with that pen, like, especially when he came back to Indiana, we got that shot every time. So I would say him. The way he would draw up plays, it was like, no matter what situation we were in, we always knew we had a chance. We always knew that if we just executed what he drew up, we were going to get a good shot. And I think that’s something that’s really rare. You don’t always see that with coaches. He was really a genius when it came to X’s and O’s. He knew how to put us in the right position to succeed, and I always appreciated that about him. It’s why I think he’s one of the best coaches I ever had."
Al Harrington on his cannabis business: "Right now, we are considered the biggest black-owned cannabis company in the world, essentially. We’re operating out of 12 states, three different countries. I will say, like, you know, it’s not easy. Entrepreneurship is very, very extremely hard. You know, as entrepreneurs, our job is to make it look easy. But, you know, it’s a lot of challenges, struggles, ups and downs, rounds and rounds. But at the end of the day, I think that when you’ve got a solid foundation in something, things will always work themselves out. And, you know, we’ve been doing this now since 2011. This is year 13, we’re on our way to year 14, and we’re just going to continue to move. We’re opening up a store in New Jersey, which I’m super excited about. First time me coming back home with something that I actually own, opening up a store in Hoboken, New Jersey."
Harrington shared how an 'obese' manager he met at the airport couldn't fit into a taxi. As a result, the former 25th overall pick missed his flight and was late to his first meeting with his head coach. "So I walked to Larry Bird, he looked at me, reached his hand out to me, he said, 'Don't ever be fu***ng late again.' That's what he told me. He didn't say hi, he didn't say welcome to the team, he said, 'Don't ever be fu***ng late again.'That was the first thing Larry Bird said to me," Al added.
Al was a first-round pick to Indiana in 1998 ... so naturally, we asked him what it'd be like for Caitlin at the next level. "The fact that she's coming from Iowa to that market is obviously a great market," Al said. "I'm sure the WNBA would love for her to be in a bigger market than that, but I think she's gonna thrive." "It's like she's gonna be the female Reggie Miller."
Advertisement
Marc Stein: Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios is in advanced talks to join the @SEMelbPhoenix as a co-owner in Australia's @NBL, sources tell me. Kyrgios would join a Romie Chaudhari-led ownership group that includes John Wall, Zach Randolph, Al Harrington, Josh Childress and Dante Exum.
In addition to real estate development, he’s also a budding investor who co-owns a professional basketball team in Australia, the South East Melbourne Phoenix, in the same Australian National Basketball League that he played in toward the end of his career. “I played in Australia for three years so I know the landscape over there a bit,” Childress said. “When the opportunity presented itself, the entire ownership group is pretty much based here in LA, guys that I know. Some real estate guys, myself, Al Harrington, Zach Randolph, John Wall, some NBA connectivity, it was a great opportunity for us to take that next step.”
By the way, we also ran into ex-NBA star Al Harrington at LAX this week ... and he shared Magic's opinion, telling us the Lakers should definitely hold on to LeBron.
Brandon 'Scoop B' Robinson: Ex-Knick Al Harrington on Mark Jackson, Tom Thibodeau: "How can Mark Jackson NOT get an interview for the New York Knicks? How do you just give that to Tom Thibodeau?" "Like, at the end of the day what the f**k has he done to deserve a coaching job like that?"
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement