Brief Ex-LA Role Player Hoping to Mount Comeback

One-time former Los Angeles Lakers reserve power forward Montrezl Harrell is pining for an NBA comeback, as he laid out in a new piece for The Players' Tribune.

Fresh off winning the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award for the L.A. Clippers, during the best season of his professional life in 2019-20, Harrell inked a two-year, $19 million contract with their crosstown rival that offseason. His tenure with Los Angeles was brief, however. By the playoffs, Harrell's defensive weaknesses put him on head coach Frank Vogel's bad side, and he saw his minutes cut to just 9.8 per bout. Los Angeles was ousted by the Phoenix Suns, en route to Chris Paul's first (and thus far only) Finals appearance, in six games.

Harrell's remaining year on his Lakers contract was flipped to the Washington Wizards as part of Rob Pelinka's ill-fated deal to acquire Russell Westbrook. He was traded again, midway through the year, to the Charlotte Hornets. Harrell agreed to a two-season deal with his former Clippers coach Doc Rivers' new squad, the Philadelphia 76ers, that subsequent offseason. He suited up for one healthy year with Philadelphia, then declined his player option to reach free agency.

Unfortunately, that's when the trouble started.

"Then, around this time last summer, I was in my normal off-season routine, hooping," Harrell explained. "One day, I went in to see the trainer because my knee had swelled up, and it turned out I tore my ACL and my meniscus. After me and my trainer looked at the imaging he had done, I sat there and cried. Then I started calling the people that I needed to call to inform them. At the time, I was in one of those contract gray areas with the Sixers … I thought it might be the end."

Harrell has understandably been teamless ever since.

"This past year opened my eyes," Harrell wrote. "I realized I’m not ready to hang this game up — and I have a lot of game left in me. Having a tough season, blowing out my knee … I can’t accept that ending, man. That can’t be what people remember me by. No way that’s gonna be how Trezz went out."

Harrell went on to make his case for why he deserves another NBA shot.

"Here’s how I’m going out: leaving it all on the floor. It’s where I’ve left it every night for eight years — and it’s the only way I know how to play. I’m ready to be that hustle dude again, that team-first dude, that bench mob Trezz," Harrell said. "That warrior. And there are a lot of things I still haven’t done in my career. I still got boxes to check off."