Despite the recent astronomical surge in NBA salaries, only some players in the league earn a nine-figure income. Role players still earn a pretty penny, but never to a point where they consider a million dollars as chump change. This was the case of former NBA forward Maurice "Mo" Harkless, who found himself in an ironic situation.
On the latest episode of "The Draymond Green Show," Dray recalled the hilarious tale of Harkless becoming deathly scared of shooting three-pointers because he feared his percentage would slip, which could have caused him to miss a million-dollar bonus.
Flat-out stopped shooting threes
This occurred during the tail end of the 2016-17 season while the 6-foot-7 forward was still playing for the Portland Trail Blazers . Dray revealed that Harkless' contract stipulated that he must make at least 35% of his three point attempts to earn the financial bonus. With his percentage already at 35.1, the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year stated that Harkless played it safe and did not attempt another one in the Blazers' last four games.
"We're playing, it's the end of the season, and Mo Harkless had a bonus in his contract that if he shot a certain three-point percentage and played a certain number of games, which he had already played, he would get a million-dollar bonus," Green said . "He needed to shoot around 35%, and he was at like 35.3%. For the last four or five games of the year, he didn't attempt a three."
In that season, Mo's last attempt from beyond the arc came on April 4, 2017, in a game against the Utah Jazz, when he went 0-for-1. Concerned his percentage would slip under the threshold, the St. John's product did not attempt a single shot from three-point country in games against Minnesota, Utah, San Antonio, and New Orleans. He finished the regular season shooting 35.1 % from long distance.
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Green used this to the Dubs' advantage
Unfortunately for Harkless and the Blazers, Draymond caught wind of this and used it to his advantage. A proven master of mind games, Green did not hesitate to call out Mo on his shenanigans late in the regular season.
"So we meet up with them in the playoffs right after he's doing that, and I say to him right away, 'You're gonna shoot tonight 'cause you got your bonus now, or are you still scared to shoot? Hey, he's scared to shoot, fellas. He doesn't want to shoot tonight. He's still worried about his bonus,'" the four-time All-Star recounted.
The Blazers had no chance of defeating a Golden State with six All-Stars led by Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Dray, and Klay Thompson. However, they still needed all hands on deck to make the series more competitive. Unfortunately for the Blazers, Mo's fear of shooting affected his performance, and he just couldn't bring it, which was a significant blow to the team's chances.
"He tanked the rest of the series. You can't do that; you got the bonus, now you gotta hoop," Dray added.
Harkless shot a dismal 29% from the floor, including a horrendous 16% from beyond the arc. The Blazers eventually got swept by the Warriors in the first round.
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