Al Harrington

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BIOGRAPHY

Albert Harrington (born February 17, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player. Selected with the 25th overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, Harrington played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards. Al played reached the NBA Playoffs 7 times, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2004. Al also spent a short stint with the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

Since retiring from the NBA, Harrington has become an entrepreneur in the cannabis industry. Harrington is a cousin of NBA player Dahntay Jones.

Big3 (2017)

In the summer of 2017, Harrington competed in the inaugural season of the Big3 basketball league. He played for Trilogy and served as co-captain with former teammate Kenyon Martin. The team went an undefeated 10-0 that season, winning the first-ever Big3 Championship.

Entrepreneurship - viola extracts

After retiring from the NBA, Harrington started a business that produces cannabis extracts. The company, Viola Extracts, is named after Harrington's grandmother. Suffering from glaucoma and diabetes, she tried cannabis at the urging of Harrington and found significant relief. The company cultivates cannabis in-house and has facilities in several states.

In February 2018 Harrington announced the launch of Harrington Wellness, a company that manufactures non-psychoactive cannabinoid products. Also announced was his investment in a third company Butter Baby, which makes cannabis edibles. All three companies together comprise The Harrington Group.

Advocacy

Harrington is a proponent for the legalization of cannabis. In October 2016, he appeared in an online ad endorsing the passage of California's Proposition 64. He has also written an essay for The Players' Tribune titled "9 Reasons to End the War on Marijuana".

In October 2017, Harrington interviewed former NBA commissioner David Stern regarding cannabis use by players. Stern told Harrington during the interview: "I'm now at the point where personally I think [cannabis] probably should be removed from the banned list. You've persuaded me."