Al Harrington agreed to a reported five-year, $34 million contract with the Nuggets on Wednesday, but the veteran forward admitted that he was disappointed about his departure from New York.
Harrington said Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni did not want him back.
“Hell, no,” Harrington told the New York Daily News. “He definitely didn’t want me back. That was the most obvious thing of all. We all knew that he didn’t want me to be there.”
Harrington said he never got D’Antoni’s respect last season.
“I came off the bench and did whatever he asked me to do. I don’t think he liked my game, so now I’m moving on,” Harrington said, adding: “When we won a game and I played well he wouldn’t even mention me in his postgame comments. It is what it is. I thank him for the opportunity to play but I don’t think I was a guy that he really liked.”
D’Antoni responded that Harrington and David Lee were forced out due to budgetary issues after the Knicks signed Amar’e Stoudemire.
“Amar’e kind of filled that position pretty good so I think we’re OK,” D’Antoni said. “We just changed the structure of the team. He and David Lee were financially out. I’m happy for Al, but it just didn’t work out.”
