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Montrezl Harrell is still shocked after what happened to DeMarcus Cousins in Puerto Rico: "That sh*t was wild, but this is how their fans are"
Montrezl Harrell is still shocked after what happened to DeMarcus Cousins in Puerto Rico: "That sh*t was wild, but this is how their fans are" originally appeared on Basketball Network.
When Montretzl Harrell won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2020 with the Los Angeles Clippers, not many would have predicted that he'd be out of the league five years later.
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However, after suffering an ACL tear when he was the Philadelphia 76ers player, his road to recovery began, but the NBA opportunities started to dwindle. Rather than settle for a veteran's minimum contract, for the first time in his career, Harrell tried his luck overseas and boy, he experienced a lot since 2024.
He played for three international teams in three different countries. Harrell started his overseas journey in Australia, playing for the Adelaide 36ers, but then changed continents two more times as he played in China with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers and for a month he represented Puerto Rican club, Gigantes de Carolina.
Living close to Russia
All three countries are very different in every aspect of day-to-day experience, so when we got a chance to interview Harrell, we had to ask him about the differences in those experiences. Interestingly, Harrell says the only culture shock he experienced was in China.
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"China was the only one that made me go, 'Wow, this is kind of where I am.' The language barrier is completely different. The way Chinese people move, look and view life is completely different than being in the United States," Harrell began his answer before continuing.
"Their government is completely different over there; it's a whole different way of living. And it's really different when you're not in a city like Beijing or Shanghai; I was in a city that was more out West. That s*it was close to Russia, bro. And everywhere I went, I had to have a translator [program] on my phone so I could translate what they were saying into English."
On the other hand, it seems he enjoyed his experience in Australia the most.
"Australia is dope. I would probably never go there if it's not for the game of basketball, but then, to be able to go over there and see how people welcomed me. They damn' near look at me like I'm Australian. They speak English and you have a diverse group of people there, so you're learning about different cultures they have. It was dope," Harrell fondly remembered.
Driving to games
Even though he had only been in Puerto Rico for a month, he liked the experience, too. He even liked that he had to drive to games.
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"It was dope, too; the island is dope. I would probably never go there as well if it wasn't for basketball. It's been a blessing to see these different countries. It was funny because in Australia and China, we flew to places where we played, but in Puerto Rico, you hop in the car and just drive to that sh*t; that sh*t is like an hour away. But it was cool, it was dope, you didn't have to deal with airports," he said with a smile on his face.
Harrell continued talking about the passionate Puerto Rican fans he experienced as he also mentioned the recent DeMarcus Cousins incident there. Cousins was ejected from a game after almost getting into a fight with a courtside fan who was provoking him and things escalated as he was leaving the court.
Angry Cousins was flipping off the opposing fans, but they responded by throwing things like beer at him. That only pushed him to a deeper rage as he was trying to fight through security and police to get physical with them, but luckily, they were able to restrain him.
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"I'm still shocked with the sh*t that happened with DeMarcus Cousins," Harrell admitted.
"That sh*t was wild, but this is how their fans are. They're maybe not as crazy as Euroleague fans, but after seeing that sh*t, I don't know. But it was dope to still have a lane outside the NBA to go to and still see people support the leagues that they have," he concluded.
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It's a different ball game playing outside the NBA
Harrell just went through what a lot of former NBA players go through when they try their luck overseas. Puerto Rican and Euroleague fans often see cheering for their favorite clubs as a way of life; for them, it's not just something to do after work, and it's not an activity to relax on the weekends.
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It's the best day of their life when their team wins, and it's the worst day ever when they lose as they live vicariously through those clubs.
Of course, there are a lot of NBA fans like that, but most of them won't express their happiness or sadness during the game in the way overseas fans do. It's very similar to a European soccer culture, where fans called Ultras sing and cheer throughout the whole game, there is pyro involved, etc... The bad side of it often includes fights between the fans of the rival clubs or, in extreme cases, attacks like the one that happened to Cousins.
Luckily, Harrell never experienced something like that happen to him and with him only being 31, he has more than enough time to get back to the NBA and never be in the situation like Cousins was.
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Related: DeMarcus Cousins names the only untradeable player in the NBA: "There's one guy that's untouchable"
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 13, 2025, where it first appeared.
