Al Harrington

At only 18 years of age, Harrington was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 25th overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, making him the first player born in the 1980s to be drafted by the NBA. Harrington spent six seasons with the Pacers, primarily coming off the bench. Harrington really began to come into his own in the 2001–02 season, in which he averaged 13.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, but his season came to an end in a game against the Boston Celtics when he suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss the final 38 games of the season.

He made a comeback in the 2002–03 season, becoming the only Pacer to play in all 82 games that year. He averaged 12.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while starting in 37 games. The following season, he boosted his averages slightly to 13.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and finished second in voting for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. He was an integral part of the Pacers' first run to the Eastern Conference Finals since 2000.

On July 15, 2004, Harrington was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Stephen Jackson.[4] Harrington finally became a nightly starter, but the Hawks did not fare as successfully as the Pacers did after his departure.

On August 22, 2006, Harrington and John Edwards were acquired by the Indiana Pacers from the Atlanta Hawks in a sign-and-trade deal that also sent the Hawks a 2007 first round draft pick.[5] In 2006–07, Harrington wore jersey #32 because his first choice #3 was worn by teammate Šarūnas Jasikevičius (saying it stands for "number three, and it's my second time around").[6]

Harrington warming up before a Warriors/Lakers game on March 23, 2008.

On January 17, 2007, Harrington was dealt to the Golden State Warriors along with teammates Stephen Jackson, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, and Josh Powell for Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Ike Diogu, and Keith McLeod.[7]

On November 21, 2008, Harrington was traded to the New York Knicks in exchange for Jamal Crawford.[8] In his two seasons with the Knicks, he played the best basketball of his career, but did not reach the playoffs in either season. In 140 games (66 starts), he averaged 19.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steals in 32.7 minutes per game.[9]

On July 15, 2010, Harrington signed a multi-year deal with the Denver Nuggets.[10] During the 2010–11 season, he averaged 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 22.8 minutes per game. The Nuggets finished 50–32, fifth best in the Western Conference and second in the Northwest Division. The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Nuggets in five games in the first round of the 2011 playoffs.

On August 10, 2012, Harrington was traded to the Orlando Magic in a four-team trade which sent Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers.[11] He only played 10 games for the Magic in 2012–13, averaging 5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 11.7 minutes per game. The Magic finished with a 20–62 record, the worst record in the NBA. On August 2, 2013, Harrington was waived by the Magic.[12]

On August 14, 2013, Harrington signed with the Washington Wizards.[13] He came off the bench in all 37 games he played for Washington, averaging 6.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per contest. The Wizards made their first playoff appearance since 2008, and Harrington played in 7 of the team's 11 postseason games.[14]

On August 11, 2014, Harrington signed with the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association.[15][16] On November 25, 2014, he parted ways with Fujian amidst NBA interest.[17]

After returning to the United States and not receiving any NBA offers, Harrington announced his retirement from professional basketball on March 18, 2015, after averaging 13.5 points and 5.6 rebounds in a 16-year career that included stints with seven teams.[18]

Harrington later came out of retirement and signed with the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League on October 28, 2015 as an injury replacement for Josh Childress.[19] He made his debut for the Kings two days later, scoring 12 points off the bench in an 87–78 win over the Townsville Crocodiles.[20] With Childress set to return from injury, Harrington played his last game with Sydney on November 19, recording 18 points and 6 rebounds in a loss to the New Zealand Breakers.[21] In six games for the Kings, he averaged 17.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

After retiring from the NBA, Harrington started a business that produces cannabis extracts. The company, Viola Brands, is named after Harrington's grandmother. Suffering from glaucoma and diabetes, she tried cannabis at the urging of Harrington and found significant relief.[26] The company cultivates cannabis in-house and has facilities in several states.[1][27]

In February 2018 Harrington announced the launch of Harrington Wellness, a company that manufactures non-psychoactive cannabinoid products.[28] Also announced was his investment in a third company Butter Baby, which makes cannabis edibles.[28] All three companies together comprise The Harrington Group.[29]

In July 2021, Harrington and NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson announced a partnership through which a line of cannabis products would be launched named "The Iverson Collection".[30][31] As part of the partnership, Iverson will aid in the development of various business initiatives for Viola Brands.[32]

In July 2022, Harrington announced a partnership with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) to promote his Re+Play line of CBD products, which will be sold by Amazon and Walmart.[33][34]

Harrington is a proponent for the legalization of cannabis. In October 2016, he appeared in an online ad endorsing the passage of California's Proposition 64.[35] He has also written an essay for The Players' Tribune titled "9 Reasons to End the War on Marijuana".[36]

In October 2017, Harrington interviewed former NBA commissioner David Stern regarding cannabis use by players.[37] Stern told Harrington during the interview: "I'm now at the point where personally I think [cannabis] probably should be removed from the banned list. You've persuaded me."[38]

In January 2021, Harrington interviewed U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer about his efforts to end cannabis prohibition at the federal level.[39][40]