- Montrezl Harrell of the Los Angeles Clippers and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks buried the hatchet ahead of Game 4 of their playoff series on Sunday.
- Harrell had been criticized after he could be seen mouthing the words “b—- a— white boy” towards Doncic in Game 3.
- The two spoke before the start of Game 4, with Doncic saying after the game that he accepted Harrell’s apology.
- The controversy generated a great discussion on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” with Ernie, Shaq, Kenny, and Charles debating what it meant to cross a line while talking trash in today’s NBA.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Los Angeles Clippers big man Montrezl Harrell apologized to Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic ahead of their playoff game on Sunday, burying what had been a bubbling and intense feud between the two players.
Harrell caused a bit of a stir over the weekend after he was seen mouthing the words “b—- a– white boy” to Doncic after a play during a game between the two teams on Friday.
—NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) August 22, 2020
The two would later get into a staredown of sorts after a minor collision, with Doncic appearing to tell Harrell to “stop flopping.”
—Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 22, 2020
But on Sunday, the two players made peace ahead of the start of Game 4 of their playoff series, with Harrell approaching Doncic to apologize for how heated things had gotten between them.
—ESPN (@espn) August 23, 2020
On Twitter, Harrell emphasized that the apology came from him, and was not prompted by the league or anyone else pushing him to make good with his opponent.
“Nothing but respect for Luka,” Harrell wrote. “He understood the heat of the battle, and he said it didn’t bother him only RESPECT.”
—Montrezl Harrell (@MONSTATREZZ) August 23, 2020
After the game, Doncic made clear that he and Harrell were all good moving forward. “Sometimes you say things you don’t want to say,” Doncic said. “He apologized, I respect it, so no problems.”
—Brad Townsend (@townbrad) August 23, 2020
The feud and ensuing apology made for a great segment on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal, and Charles Barkley discussing their feelings on race, trash talk, and what it means to cross a line.
Shaq argued that what had taken place was fairly standard trash talk and that as long as the players were good with each other, what was said in the heat of the moment was easy to forgive and forget. Smith offered a slightly more nuanced take, saying that bringing up race as an identifier complicates the issue.
“As African Americans, for me, my whole thing is, I don’t want to be identified,” Smith said. “So if we’re gonna be asked not to be identified, and I think Montrezl understands, you can’t identify him. If I would’ve just said the first part of it, I’m just angry and talking smack. It’s a habit you have to break. It’s a habit that in sports, I think we all have to break.”
Barkley leaned towards agreeing with Smith, arguing against the idea of a double-standard. Johnson brought up the fact that in certain cases, being identified as a “white boy” can signify respect, as long as it’s being used in the positive light, but when used negatively, it became a clear issue.
It was a good conversation between four people well-versed to discuss a touchy topic and showed by “Inside the NBA” is one of the best shows on television.
For Doncic, Sunday ended as well as he could have hoped — with the tension surrounding his and Harrell’s confrontation lifted and a buzzer-beating game-winner to tie the series at 2-2.
The Mavericks and Clippers will face off in Game 5 of their series on Tuesday. As Harrell tweeted on Sunday night, both he and Doncic seem more than ready to finish things up on the court.
—Montrezl Harrell (@MONSTATREZZ) August 23, 2020
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