Al Harrington's return to the Bay Area was characterized by the fans' boos, a fifth consecutive loss for the New York Knicks, and a few harsh words for the Golden State Warriors' head coach Don Nelson.
As always, often controversial San Jose Mercury columnist, Tim Kawakami, sneaked into the Knicks' locker room right before the Feb. 10 game to get Harrington's reactions on his return to Oracle Arena.
Harrington, who is averaging 21.2 points and 6.3 rebounds over 37 games with the Knicks, slammed the 68-year-old Bay Area revelation.
Nelson said that Harrington's intent to depart was about money—that he wanted a "better deal." In addition, Nelson claimed that Harrington had made his relationship with him transform into a personal issue.
Harrington remarked with a "Wow" when Kawakami told him of what Nelson had said.
"I guess that’s what he said. Me and him never had any of those conversations. I think he just made that up. You know him. I didn’t say that. Tell him he told me a lot, too," Harrington said. "I just didn’t see eye-to-eye with him. I didn’t like him. And he didn’t like me."
When Kawakami asked Harrington if he related to what young forwards Brandan Wright and Anthony Randolph are currently experiencing, Harrington threw the hammer down.
"I talk to B-Wright every once in a while. I just tell him to keep his head, try to stay positive and try to weather this Nellie Storm. Because he’s been known to, you know, ruin guys’ careers. So hopefully that won’t happen to those guys," Harrington said.
Reaction
When a former player comes out and starts bashing his former coach, someone has to know that there is certainly something wrong with this franchise and coach. I have not recently witnessed a player throw out such harsh words on his ex-coach.
However, this reveals more truths that have been tucked away, stored, and that the organization wants to expire quickly before somebody exposes them.
The way Nellie used Harrington as a three-point power forward that did nothing but that, has to certainly hurt a player.
Now, Harrington might have been in there for the money, but who the hell isn't these days?
What hurt me most as a Warriors' fan was when Harrington said the following:
"It’s a damn shame. This was a team that, if they had kept it together, would be one of the top teams in the West. But unfortunately they weren’t able to do that."
In response to the causes of the Warriors' downfall, Harrington further said, " Probably Baron [Davis] leaving, losing Matt [Barnes] and guys like that. We all jelled perfect. It was like the perfect storm, think about all the types of guys we had. It’s history. It’s over with."
Personally, these last five words hurt the most.
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