Who Is Phantom BC’s Coach Adam Harrington? Everything You Need to Know About the 44-Year-Old Leading the Unrivaled Team

After serving as an assistant coach and director of player development for the Brooklyn Nets, Adam Harrington is now the head coach of Phantom BC in the Unrivaled Basketball League. The former NBA player played a key role in shaping the team’s growth for six years while also having closely worked with Kevin Durant in the year prior.

A near-decade in the field, a couple of years off the spotlight, and Harrington made a bold career shift for 2025. Here’s everything you need to know.

Adam Harrington started off as a high school standout

Born on July 5, 1980, Adam Philip Harrington went to Pioneer Valley Regional School in Northfield, Massachusetts, where he laid the foundation for his basketball journey. He’d impress with four three-pointers in a game that would help his team reach the Western Massachusetts Tournament Finals. That was just the beginning for the then-13-year-old Harrington.

He would finish his high school run with a total of 2,347 points — the highest for boys in Western Massachusets — and was ranked as the third-best high school shooting guard. A standout by then, Harrington attracted interest from some of the top college programs in the country. But it was North Carolina he would end up committing to, which was surprisingly short-lived.

His freshman season was one bumpy road. After posting double figures in his first 12 games, it was reduced to just three in the next twelve. He was also on and off the starting lineup regularly and acknowledged it to be a phase as a freshman. “I’ve gone through the ups and downs that most freshmen do and I’m looking forward to ending the season positively in the NIT,” he had said.

However, after the many rumors and finishing the season with an average of 11.6 points, Harrington transferred to Auburn University to play for coach Cliff Ellis. He sat out the 1999–2000 season due to NCAA regulations. But the next year he played in 31 games, starting 21, and averaging 15.5 points and 2.4 assists per game. His performance would earn him a spot on the All-SEC Third Team. He played one more year to average 10.1 points across 28 games before declaring his eligibility in the 2002 NBA draft.

A rough start to the professional career

After leaving college for the NBA, Adam Harrington would go undrafted in the 2002 class. Instead, he played with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Summer League before signing with the Dallas Mavericks as a rookie free agent in October of that year. He

appeared in 13 games for the Mavs. But after a low average of 0.8 points, he was released in 2003.

His time with the Mavericks and Nuggets turned out to be Harrington’s only stints in the NBA. Throughout 19 games, he recorded career totals of 30 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds. Harrington then bounced between overseas and G league before he decided to take a year off after the passing of his sister, Jill, to colon cancer in 2010. She has been his strength throughout, shifting with him during his playing days and being a mentor. He would hence open a foundation in her memory later.

“I just wanted to be there for my family. I wanted to start a foundation and I wanted it to be something that lasted a long time,” he had conveyed. Harrington started a Memroial Fund that year, in hopes of continually giving back to the community. He has continued hosting events for the same, but he only found his way back to the game after he started training middle school kids and eventually joined Kevin Durant.

The two had reportedly clicked instantly, finding a good dynamic as Harrington made his way to OKC Thunder as a shooting coach during the 2014-15 season. He later became an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets, where he held the position from 2016 to 2022. Two years later, he has another notable role to his name.

Harrington leads Phantom Club with focus on player development

Unrivaled focuses on player development, where WNBA players will compete in 3-on-3 games three nights a week, supported by top-tier trainers and medical staff. While this will be a new challenge for Harrington, helping elite athletes enhance their skills in the offseason is something he’s well-versed in.

For years, Harrington spent his offseasons working with clients in LA, most recently training top players like Kevin Durant, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Green. “It’s a very similar setting, where you can lift, where you can go to lunch together, where you can play, where you can do your work, where you can watch some film,” Harrington said.

 

It will be a learning curve for the former player, nonetheless. He will be among the likes of Teresa Weatherspoon and Phil Handy headlining the coaching list while DJ Sackmann, Nola Henry and Andrew Wade complete the staff.  Wade serves as an assistant coach for the Washington Mystics, while Henry works with the Los Angeles Sparks.

Harrington’s Phantom Club will showcase a diverse group of players, each bringing their unique talents to the team. Some, like Brittney Griner, are seasoned veterans in the later stages of their careers, while others, like Satou Sabally, are just entering their prime and ready to make their mark.