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Al Harrington (born February 17 1980) is a professional basketball player currently playing for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. The small forward is 6'9", weighing 250 pounds.
At only 18 years of age, he was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 25th pick of the 1998 NBA Draft, and spent six seasons with them, 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 a screeching halt in a game against Milwaukee when he suffered a knee injury that forced him to the bench for the final 38 games of the season.
But he made a great 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 year, he boosted his averages slightly to 13.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and finished second in voting for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award. He was an important part of the Pacers' run to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.
But on July 15 2004, admist rumors that Harrington was unhappy coming off the bench behind All-Stars Ron Artest and Jermaine O'Neal, Harrington was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Stephen Jackson. Harrington finally became a nightly starter, but the Hawks have not been nearly as successful as the Pacers have been in recent years.
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