The Adelaide 36ers of Australia’s National Basketball League have officially terminated the contract of veteran NBA big man Montrezl Harrell, announcing the news in a press release.
The 36ers say they decided to terminate Harrell’s contract because he is currently ineligible to practice or play as part of a provisional ban for testing positive for a banned substance while playing for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association this spring.
It doesn’t sound as though the team wanted to part ways with Harrell, stating that it was “grateful” for his contributions and wishes him well going forward. But Adelaide said it was unable to comment further on the situation because it is still ongoing.
Harrell made a cryptic reply to the press release (Twitter link), stating, “Wait till you hear the real story on this lol how quick the switch goes!”
According to BasketNews, Harrell previously suggested the positive test wasn’t for a performance enhancing drug.
“Like I understand fail a drug test!” he wrote. “I get what the test showed! What I get lost is on the doping part! Because doping is (a) rule on taking a drug to increase or gain an edge in competition use! I know damn well I had zero of anything like that in me so again doping???
“Much love for all the Australian fans man I truly appreciate and love the support and energy y’all gave to me! Made me fall in love with hoops again last year in a dark time! Will always be grateful for that!”
Harrell, 31, last played in the NBA for Philadelphia during the 2022/23 campaign. The 31-year-old won the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award in 2019/20.
ESPN’s Olgun Uluc first reported that Harrell and the 36ers would be parting ways.
Here are a few more notes from overseas:
- A previously reported initial transfer deal between Olympiacos and Partizan for Frank Ntilikina fell through, according to Eurohoops.net. Ntilikina reached an agreement with Olympiacos when Partizan was ready to release him, but Partizan eventually requested a $300K buyout which the Greek club refused to play. Partizan is changing course and will keep Ntilikina while Olympiacos will look elsewhere to enhance its backcourt.
- After spending last season off the court, Ricky Rubio is playing this season for Joventut Badalona. According to Eurohoops.net, Rubio didn’t shut the door on making a return to the Spanish national team. He withdrew from the team ahead of the 2023 FIBA World Cup and hasn’t suited up for Spain since then.
- After retiring earlier this offseason, Bojan Bogdanovic is reportedly close to being named president of two-time EuroLeague champion Cibona in Croatia, where he played from 2009-11, per journalist Bruno Feliks (hat tip to Eurohoops.net).
- Former NBAer Louis King is signing with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in China, according to Sportando. King played for the Pistons, Kings and Sixers on two-way deals from 2019-23, averaging 4.8 points per game in 27 appearances.
Earnest Marshall contributed to this post.
Harrell smoked weed, right?
Couldn’t handle the smoke in the NBA, now he can’t handle his smoke outside the NBA.
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Kuminga for Kessler once he signs QO …. Oct 1st
link to yardbarker.com
Yep, on the Cheech and Chong diet. Performance enhancing, no. But, a banned substance everywhere else.
Stupid or not , different countries have different laws . As Britney griner would confirm
Still though, remains ridiculous that a substance that is infinitely more benign than alcohol remains taboo in many places
Try holidaying in Bali….everyone there is out to scam you, especially the cops. Just say NO, or take plenty of bribe money, lols.
As an Aussie (not an Adelaide 36s fan), having Trez here was great for our league. Adelaide losing him to a bull$hit doping charge for smoking weed in another country really sucks.
If having Trez Harrell is great for your league…
that doesn’t say a whole lot about the league.
Well, actually it does.