Scott Horner

scott.horner@indystar.com

Al Harrington came to the Indiana Pacers straight from high school and played for them for parts of seven seasons in his 16-year career.

He now wonders what it would be like if he had been a Pacers "lifer."

"If I had one regret, I wish I never left Indiana. I should've been a Pacer for life," Harrington told CBS Sports as part of promoting The Champions League, a 16-team league that will include several former NBA players. "I left thinking that the grass would be greener on the other side and it wasn't. But it still worked out for me, I was able to play for a lot of great teams with a lot of different players that I still have relationships with. It's not a real regret, but sometimes I wish I wore just one uniform my whole career."

Harrington, who turns 37 Friday, was drafted 25th overall in 1998 out of St. Patrick's High School in New Jersey. He played his first six seasons here, as well as part of the 2006-07 season. He averaged 10.7 points and 5.4 rebounds with Indiana. He also played for Atlanta, New York, Denver, Golden State, Washington and Orlando.

Harrington credits Antonio Davis as having an immediate impact on him -- on and off the court -- when he entered the league.

"Antonio Davis, he took me under his wing from day one," Harrington said. "He taught me everything I know. He taught me how to pay my taxes, write a check, manage my bank account and he taught me how to work. He made sure I was the first in the gym, and the last one to leave. He taught me the type of work ethic needed to survive in the NBA."

The Pacers were a championship caliber team, Harrington believes, but they didn't stay together long enough to make a run.

"We were just young," he said. "That's why I said it was kind of a regret because if we all stayed together maybe two more years, we could've gotten a championship during that era. It was right there for us. Even the year that I left and they had (the Malice at the Palace), I think that year even without me, they had a good chance of winning the championship. It is what it is. It was just an experience thing and the Pistons had a little bit more experience than we did. We were right there, but what could you do?"

Harrington considers Metta World Peace (Ron Artest) "one of the most sincere, real guys you will ever be around" and that he's not sure he believes that Stephen Jackson played games while high ("I never saw him high before a game.")