Who needs fans when you have a Montrezl Harrell?

Montrezl Harrell is more than just a role player for the Clippers.

Montrezl Harrell has had a tough month- But it may only be serving to make him stronger.

The Los Angeles Clippers center and sixth-man of the year candidate is coming off the best regular season of his career but has faced his share of challenges publicly and personally since the NBA resumed on July 30th.

After initially joining his team in the NBA bubble, Harrell was forced to leave Orlando when his grandmother fell ill and eventually passed away.

“My grandmother was the one introduced me to the game of basketball,” Harrell said. “One of my biggest supporters, biggest fans, one of my best friends. Only way to put it. There’s no other way to explain the things she done for me. She was my entire world.”

Harell had to travel to North Carolina to be with his family and close friends after his grandmother’s passing, forcing him to miss the entirety of LA’s eight seeding games.

His return to the game appeared to show Harrell back to normal personality-wise, but interviews revealed that grieving in a socially-distanced, isolated situation made things even more difficult for Harrell.

It was Harrell’s teammates who were there to pick him up during a dark time in his life after his quarantined return to the bubble.

Also Read: Three potential destinations for Montrezl Harrell in free agency 

“It wasn’t just one of those, ‘Hey, sorry for your loss,’” said Harrell. “No. Every person on the team really wrote a message to me, what they reflected on, instances of something they had to deal with in this matter in life, just words that would help me be able to get through this time.”

Montrezl Harrell faces scrutiny

In only Harrell’s second game back, he faced national scrutiny after some colored comments he directed towards Dallas guard Luka Doncic were captured on the broadcast.

Harrell’s comments become a major national story for the next 48 hours, placing more pressure on off-the-court issues.

The next game, Doncic had the best game of his career, hitting a game-winning shot for the Mavericks, cementing himself as the hero and painting Harrell in a negative light.

In game five, Harrell took back the narrative of his season.

From the start of the game, the LA bench- led by Harrell- was loud and active. They cheered for anything and everything positive.

Harrell brought the same energy to the floor, diving on the floor and chasing loose balls out of bounds, blocking shots, and causing mayhem all over the floor.

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After a stretch of games where the Clippers were a bit flat, Harrell was a big reason for LA’s massive bounce-back blowout win on Tuesday night. And maybe this win was what will help get Harrell back into a groove.

“When we get an opportunity to step inside the lines, that is an opportunity to let our minds go, let our hearts be free, kind of let go of some of that grief, let go some of that hurt and bond with the guys,” teammate Lou Williams said.

Letting his mind go worked in game five. Harrell finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds in his best game in well over six months; Perhaps turning a page for Harrell and igniting a fuse for the Clippers.