Lakers’ Montrezl Harrell Opens up on Playing with New Tewmmates LeBron James and Anthony Davis

Montrezl Harrell sent shock waves throughout the NBA when he chose to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers. The move came as a surprise, as he was playing for the Clippers and was coming off his best season.

Harrell was awarded the NBA Sixth Man Of The Year after a fantastic season for the LA Clippers. Coming off the bench, Harrell averaged 18.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.1 block per game. He was a big reason for the Clippers securing the second seed in the Western Conference.

However, the Clippers did not have a good off-season. Even though they were considered the favorites, they lost to the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the playoffs. Harrell’s numbers dipped in the playoffs significantly.

It was the locker-room tensions after the series collapse that made the news. Montrezl Harrell was unhappy with players like Paul George not taking accountability for the loss.

Harrell became a free agent this off-season. Given his fantastic season, many expected Harrell to get a big payday from whichever team he joined.

Shockingly, Harrell signed with the Los Angeles Lakers as part of their mid-level exception for two years and $19 million. Many made the connection to Harrell’s agent Rich Paul, who represents several Lakers’ players, including LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Montrezl Harrell talks about Lakers teammates

The addition of Harrell significantly improves the Lakers, who have made several moves in the off-season. Harrell joins runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year, Dennis Schröder, Wesley Matthews, and Marc Gasol as new additions to the Lakers.

The Lakers are favorites to win another NBA championship in the eyes of many. They have significantly improved their roster while retaining important players such as KCP and Markieff Morris.

Montrezl Harrell spoke in an interview about teaming up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Harrell said that the caliber of the two players is all the indicator anyone needs about their quality and said, “That’s not really a hard thing to do…You’re playing with two premier superstars in our league, LeBron and AD, these guys’ records speak for themselves, the names speak for themselves.” 

Harrell also said he doesn’t feel pressure to play a specific style of basketball, due to the versatility the two players provide and said, “When you have guys on the floor of that high caliber, I don’t feel it’s going to take that much getting used to. Because I don’t feel like I have to play one particular style, really. Just basically want to do anything that it takes to win the game. That’s all that really matters.”

The new-look Lakers take the court on December 22nd as the NBA season restarts. Their goal will be to go back-to-back and drape another championship in purple and gold.