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Harrell argued that if players have a political message regarding the protection of women’s sports, they should articulate it directly rather than resorting to public spectacles: “I know what you’re trying to say about men not playing with women, but just use your words as a grown man. Don’t try to berate women… I’m not a fan of it and wish it was something they wouldn’t do, because it’s not highlighting the message they claim to have about protecting women’s sports.” Reached for comment via text message following Harrell’s interview, Royce White—who has shifted his focus toward right-wing populist political activism and a U.S. Senate bid—dismissed Harrell’s critique in explicit, aggressive terms: “This is how bitches talk… ‘It’s not what you’re saying, it’s how you’re saying it.’ Find a more ‘politically correct’ way to tell me the truth. I’m fresh out of nice ways to tell dumb niggas common sense. It’s funny saying ‘use your words’ like this hasn’t already been a discussion for a while. Why hasn’t he ever spoken on it or ‘used his words’ since he gets it?”
Trez, how was your workout on September 12th with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Houston Rockets’ G League affiliate, as you make your attempt back to the NBA? Montrezl Harrell: Overall, I’m not going to lie, it was good, man. I was able to get down there, get a couple of rounds in and the workout that I had post-practice with the coaching staff went really well.
Paul George gets a lot of heat, and people were criticizing him even during the bubble. When you look at Paul George’s game, what do you think is one of the most underrated portions of his game? Montrezl Harrell: I don’t make comments about that boy. Me and that boy don’t see eye-to-eye, and we ain’t on no terms, so I don’t make comments about him. Quite frankly, I don’t care. I stated that in the tribute interview I did as well, regarding how me and him got into it in that bubble situation. I feel like that had a strong trajectory on why the Clippers didn’t sign me back the following year, so I don’t make comments on him.
Montrezl Harrell: I don’t know what the hell Washington is doing, to be honest with you. It doesn’t make sense. They got the young kid AJ Dybantsa, but he’s at the three. You bring over Deandre Ayton, but you already drafted the young kid Alex Sarr. Then you have Anthony Davis, but you have another center on the bench in Tristan Vukčević. Now you have four centers because you also have Jonas Valančiūnas. Your only backup to Anthony Davis right now is Anthony Gill, and then you have Trae Young with no legitimate two-guard playing. It looks like a disaster. Their starting five is Trae Young, Khris Middleton, AJ Dybantsa, Anthony Davis and Deandre Ayton. But when you look at that bench, you can beat them with that every night. It’s going to be something where the coach is going to have to coach that team. There is a lot of uncertainty down there. I don’t see them being in any serious conversation in the East. Maybe they can get into a play-in situation, but I don’t see them being a crazy East contender. I just don’t know what their team identity is.
Outspoken figures like Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom have taken high-profile, unconventional paths to make social and political points—most recently declaring for the WNBA Draft and making public scenes that the league explicitly called “publicity stunts”. As someone who has played at every level, what are your honest thoughts on players using the platform like this, and where do you draw the line between legitimate advocacy and headline-grabbing stunts that draw focus away from women’s basketball? Montrezl Harrell: I don’t entertain that, to be honest with you. That stuff is corny and lame. I’m an actual WNBA fan. I’ve been to most of their games and went to Game 1 when the Aces made their back-to-back run. I was down there on the floor conversing with the MVP, All-Stars and the MVPs of the league. For guys like that to use their platform to disrespect it, that’s corny. I’m not a fan of it at all. You don’t gain any cool points off of it. You’re two grown men running into arenas and public spaces making a mockery of yourselves. Who is that helping? I’m never going to say I understand what you’re doing, because what you’re doing is corny. I know what you’re trying to say about men not playing with women, but just use your words as a grown man. Don’t try to berate women. Even when Enes Kanter got into it with Natasha Cloud, that was corny. You don’t gain cool points off that. I’m not a fan of it and wish it was something they wouldn’t do, because it’s not highlighting the message they claim to have about protecting women’s sports. I’m just not a fan of their overall stuff.
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Lachard Binkley: This past weekend former Houston Rocket Montrezl Harrell took part in the RGV tryouts. Harrell started his career with the Vipers in the 2015-16 playing two seasons with the Rockets. Of course Harrell was part of the blockbuster trade that brought Chris Paul to the Rockets. Harrell played on several team’s including overseas and also played in the BIG3.
Patrick Beverley: "Montrezl Harrell gets into a verbal argument with Paul George. That dynamic doesn't look good. They let Montrezl Harrell walk. Lou Kennard comes in, he signs a four-year $60 million deal. They got Lou Williams, the most six-man in NBA history, they got him on an $8 million deal. Lou Williams pissed. I come in, I ask for an extension, they try to lowball me. So they're doing all of this to keep superstars happy. And then you get rid of Paul George, and you get James Harden, and you get Russell Westbrook. You get rid of them, and you cut Chris Paul. Only person that you keep is Kawhi Leonard. Phenomenal basketball player. Don't get it twisted. Kawhi Leonard, when healthy, is a phenomenal basketball player. It's not even close actually. He has Michael Jordan numbers when he's healthy."
Olgun Uluc: The Adelaide 36ers make it official: Montrezl Harrell’s contract has been terminated, the team says. They’re unlikely to have a replacement signed for their #NBL26 opener on Sunday, but I’m told there’s a chance one could be locked in by next week.
Montrezl Harrell and the Adelaide 36ers are preparing to part ways, sources told ESPN. Harrell -- an eight-year NBA veteran -- has faced complications following a doping violation he was found guilty of while playing in China over the offseason, sources said, with the 36ers unable to navigate around the situation.
The 31-year-old responded soon after that news dropped. “Wish I knew the truth in what actually happened! I played in Puerto Rico but hey idk (I don’t know) rules!,” Harrell tweeted. “Like I understand fail a drug test! I get what the test showed! What I get lost is on the doping part! Because doping is (a) rule on taking a drug to increase or gain an edge in competition use! I know damn well I had zero of anything like that in me so again doping???”
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Montrezl Harrell on CBA basketball in China: “To me, it's definitely a different type of culture, a different type of living lifestyle in general. I mean, everybody's game is in a different place, a different stage in their career. Me, honestly, it was cool to go over there, see it, be a part of it. But I don't know if my game really transitions into that right now. I'm one of those guys that still love to play the correct way, still trying to find winning plays. If a play works, milking a play, you know, different things like that. But the Chinese culture in the basketball world is a little bit different. Guys go out there and jack up a lot of shots. Bad basketball. I'm not even going to lie. Compared to the NBL, CBA isn’t bad—you make a lot of money. But as far as basketball quality? It’s different.”
A social media user has been tracked down, arrested and charged over the alleged racial abuse of Adelaide 36ers NBL star Montrezl Harrell. In a first for the sport as it attempts to stamp out racism and online abuse, Code Sports can reveal a 37-year-old man, of the Victorian suburb of Huntingdale, was arrested on Wednesday, July 2.
It’s alleged the man, in November, sent a racist direct message to Harrell, who is of African-American heritage, and was identified by investigators from the Monash crime investigation unit after Basketball Australia’s integrity unit referred the matter. The man was charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass and/or offend and bailed to appear at Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on August 15.
Do you have a desire to return to the NBA? Montrezl Harrell: Listen… the NBA is something that I would definitely love to go back to but at the end of the day, where I’m at in my life you gotta understand that I’ve had a great career and the way that the game looks at it when it comes to the NBA game, once you have an injury they start to write you off. And so what it happened that my injury was my knee with my ACL and my meniscus, it was basically to the point where they [the 76ers] wrote me off and I don’t have any control over that, man… but I do have control over my life and what I feel like I still have to give this game and I know that I’m nowhere near done. It’s not really up to me. I feel like that I have to go out here and kill myself for y’all to know what I bring to this game and know what type of player I am. Yes I had a knee injury, but this isn’t the old times. The way that the game is now with the different type of doctors they have; everything that they have since back when people used to do that is not that to this day and I went on a tremendous training with my rehab, I was able to get cleared and back on the court before the NBA season actually was over! I just knew me as a player how I played, I wasn’t in any shape to help any team in the playoff run. But I was cleared before the NBA season was even up but like I said, with these types of injuries, that’s just how they look at you and write you off, man.