Al Harrington quietly announced his retirement last week. By all accounts a nice guy off the court, he’ll be best remembered on the court as the beguiling “big man” in the We Believe Warriors’ wildest lineups, and before that, as a preps-to-pros success story who grew from a late draft pick to a crucial sixth man on some contending Pacers teams.
Never forget the time Al Harrington lost the Knicks 2 games the same stupid, unbelievable way
Lightning does strike twice.
After that string of serious playoff runs, Harrington joined the Knicks, playing his best years as the leader of a team that embodied the worst thing you can be in the NBA, which is mediocre. New York acquired him during an early-season trade spasm that began the two-year stripdown in preparation for LeBron James’ 2010 free agency. After dealing Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph away from a pretty okay (7-6 at the time) team, New York needed to do what the present-day team has done near-perfectly: tank all the way to the bottom of the league.
Instead, Harrington got buckets and the Knicks finished with 32 wins, well short of the playoffs yet low in lottery odds. New York barely had a chance at Blake Griffin, and came a couple of ping-pong balls away from catching Stephen Curry in the 2009 draft. Sometimes I think about this and my nose starts bleeding?
And still, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of 32 wins is that it should have been 34. 2008-‘09 was one of Harrington’s best seasons in the league. It was also the year lightning struck twice.
★★★
On Feb. 11, 2009, the Knicks visited a very bad Clippers team led by their old friend Zach Randolph. They carried a slight lead into the fourth quarter, then seemed to pull away before Eric Gordon and Steve Novak(!) shot Los Angeles back into the game. New York clung to a one-point edge with 25 seconds to go when Harrington rebounded a David Lee miss, followed it with a two-handed dunk, then celebrated by hanging on the rim and giving the backboard a meaty slap.
Harrington’s celebration drew a technical, the Clippers hit the free throw, Mike D’Antoni air-punched his rage, Randolph tied the game for Los Angeles and it went to overtime, where the Knicks would eventually lose.
On March 25, 2009, the Knicks played host to the Clippers. Despite a big night from Randolph and a shocking 35-point explosion from Mike Taylor (who’d begin a long career overseas when the Clippers waived him months later), the Knicks clung to a one-point lead in the final minute. Harrington seemed to seal the deal on a baseline dunk with 27 seconds to go, but hung on the rim -- arguably to avoid Al Thornton running beneath him -- and drew the refs’ ire again:
Harrington’s celebration drew a technical, the Clippers hit the free throw, Mike D’Antoni air-punched his rage, Randolph tied the game for Los Angeles and the game went to overtime, where the Knicks would eventually lose.
Identical opponent, identical situation, identical once-in-a-lifetime call, identical result. The main difference was a less justifiable technical and a limper, more defeated D’Antoni rage-punch the second time:
“If it’s any other team, I would be laughing,” he said, “because I’ve never seen this before. But it’s the Knicks, I want to cry. Fate is cruel sometimes.”
“What can I do?” Harrington asked following the Knicks’ sixth straight loss. “Same team, same thing. It’s crazy.”
(Also in the above link: Nate Robinson admitting New York’s scouting report had Taylor -- who finished with a career-high-by-a-mile 35 points -- listed as a center even though he’s 6’2.)
But Walt Frazier said it best: “Lightning rarely strikes twice.” Something that never happens happened, then it happened again the same way, six weeks later and 3,000 miles removed, under the authority of three totally different refs. I’ve never seen anything like it.
The sad, hilarious denouement to a sad, hilarious deja vu in a sad, hilarious Knicks season came that summer, when one of New York’s finest dealt Harrington his ultimate punishment:
Last week, a traffic officer issued him a parking ticket with the rejoinder: “Please don’t hang on the rim next season.”
Harrington only could laugh.
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