Othella Harrington is attempted to make a return to the NBA via the D-League.

"There?s definitely a difference," Harrington said with a laugh. "You do what you have to do if you want to play basketball. I really hadn?t played consistently in about a year and a half. I was at home (in Houston) working out with Luke (John Lucas). I got tired of seeing his face all the time.

"Just to get back on the court, there?s nothing like playing basketball in a five-on-five situation with refs to get my timing back. I?ll use this as a catapult to this summer and to show everybody I still have a passion for the game. I?m healthy and I?m ready to go."

He had a $150,000 offer to play in China and could have pursued contracts in Europe, but he wanted to be seen by NBA scouts.

"I had to lobby four or five NBA teams to tell (the NBA Development League) that they wanted to see Othella, wanted to see what he could do," Harrington?s agent, David Bauman, said.