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David Harrison Seems Completely Sincere About Turning Around His Career

Posted: Oct 11th 2008 5:26PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Pacers, Timberwolves

Every young kid who makes bad mistakes in the NBA gets a second chance. Most at least attempt to come off as sincere when they get a chance to announce a new path. David Harrison is exceptional in this regard, which is to say he is the exception.

Talking to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the big dude, who last year got suspended for his third weed violation in four years and then told the media he thinks the NBA should stop giving drug tests, offered this "promise" to Wolves fans.

At age 26, he intends to display a newfound maturity in what he calls perhaps a last chance to "resurrect" his professional life. Oh, and he wants to demonstrate one other thing, too.

"That I'm not a pothead, I guess," he said.

If a friend gets fired for being lazy, hotheaded and a pothead, and your friend tells his next employer that he wants to demonstrate "that I'm not a pothead, I guess" ... how much stock do you put in his assertion? Little? None? Yeah, none sounds right.

This isn't to disrespect Harrison; the cat is actually passable when he can stay out of the doghouse. That's what has made his notoriously bad work ethic and completely coincidental weed usage frustrating.

Pacers Owner Suggests a Complete Reset

Posted: Mar 8th 2008 3:04PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Pacers, Indianapolis

4 COMMENTS

The Indiana Pacers have gone through a lot of PR issues since 2004... and the team hasn't been successful enough to mute concerns. If it feels like the dead and buried "Portland Jailblazers" all over again, it should. The problems are similar.

The Pacers have been blowin' it up since last January, when they took on two tough contracts just to rid the team of Stephen Jackson. Have they gone far enough? Judging by the blotter, no. And owner Herb Simon suggests to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star a clean slate might be the only way to fix things.

"We're talking about restructuring, re-thinking, all the things you do when your team is in crisis," he said. "We're going to be having a series of meetings and we're going to make changes, yes."
When asked what areas he plans on addressing, Simon said, "Everything but the owner right now."

(You hear that, Ballmer? He's not selling.) Donnie Walsh has been perceived as on his way out of Indiana regardless; Simon might not even have to ask for his resignation. Larry Bird? Might be trickier. Bird's so entwined with Indiana state basketball he might not consider any other available job an even trade. (Which is to say I doubt Danny Ainge is getting canned this summer.)

And considering the product on the floor, isn't Bird the franchise face right now? Exiling Jamaal Tinsley and David Harrison and Marquis Daniels and even Shawne Williams could only do so much if you leave a complete void in its place. Mike Dunleavy Jr. ain't sellin' tickets/jerseys, in other words.

Sadly, there won't even be an elite prospect likely to help, as Indy seems pegged to the mid-to-late lottery. Most thought this would be the year it got worse before it got better. But a lack of action last summer and this trade deadline seems to have pushed off the (now) inevitable scorched Earth rebuild one more year.

Spurs Coach and Pacers Player Go Crazy

Posted: Mar 7th 2008 2:03PM by Brett Pollakoff (author feed)
Filed under: Pacers, Spurs, NBA Videos, NBA Last Night

0 COMMENTS

That was a crazy game last night in San Antonio, wasn't it? I'm not talking about the outcome, as the Spurs predictably won their 11th straight over the Pacers. I'm talking about how high the emotions were running for both teams in a game between the West's best and the East's fifth worst.

It started with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who was clearly still agitated that his team isn't giving maximum effort as we close in on the end of the regular season. This time he didn't wait until after the game to start screaming, he let loose in the second quarter and got himself tossed.

Things got equally crazy for the Pacers near the end of the game, thanks to David Harrison.

Continue Reading Spurs Coach and Pacers Player Go Crazy

Should NBA Test for Weed? Smoker Says No

Posted: Jan 24th 2008 11:15AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Pacers, NBA Police Blotter, Indianapolis

21 COMMENTS

Fresh off a five-game suspension for (allegedly) smoking weed, Pacer big man David Harrison got snaked into some comments about the validity of the Association testing its players for illicit substances. Mark Montieth of the Indianapolis Star has the goods.

"There's the politically correct thing to say, there's the basketball player thing to say and there's what I really want to say," Harrison said.

Pressed for comment, he said: "I don't understand how they have a right to look into our lives on any level besides performance-enhancing drugs. It's not a rule made by government and it's not a rule made by God; it's made by an organization (the NBA). I guess they feel it will benefit that organization."

Well, it is a rule made by government. And while I don't profess to speak with God regularly, I'm fairly certain most versions of the Almighty frown on spliffs as a general guideline.

If Harrison were making a larger point about our country and whether marijuana should be illegal, or whether marijuana users should be subject to disciplinary action by their employers, maybe he'd have a point. But given our nation's current policy on marijuana, the NBA's well within its domain to take some salary back when you've done something illegal they've warned you about twice already. This isn't a stand; this is sour grapes.