By Michael Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 10, 2006 11:18 AM

Atlanta Hawks forward Al Harrington tries not to think about how things could've been different -- for himself, for Ron Artest and for the Indiana Pacers -- had he never demanded a trade following the 2003-04 season. Harrington would be lying if he said some "maybe" thoughts never crossed his mind.

Maybe he wouldn't have had to lose 14 more games in one season with the Hawks (69) than he had in his final two seasons in Indiana combined . Maybe the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills never would've happened. Maybe an Artest mental meltdown would've opened the door for Harrington to finally become the No. 2 option on the Pacers. Maybe the Pacers wouldn't have another season of championship expectations sabotaged by Artest.

Maybe, just maybe, had Harrington just kept quiet and played out the final two seasons of his contract in Indiana, some of these situations could've been avoided. "Obviously, you can sit back at times and say, 'Well, if I was there this [would've happened],' " Harrington said. "But you know, I don't have no regrets. None."

It was only about 18 months ago when the 6-foot-8 Harrington, frustrated with his role on a Pacer team that advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, asked out of Indiana (although he first voiced his displeasure to Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh and not the Indianapolis Star, as Artest did). Harrington had just finished runner-up to Antawn Jamison for NBA sixth man of the year but he felt stifled in Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle's regimented offensive system, playing behind both Artest and his best friend, Jermaine O'Neal.

Since joining the Hawks following a trade that sent Stephen Jackson to Indiana, Harrington has been granted his wish of becoming a team leader and an offensive focal point. His numbers have steadily increased in Atlanta -- he currently is averaging career-highs with 19.3 points and 7.3 rebounds -- but the losses have mounted at a more mind-numbing pace: The Hawks have lost 82 percent of their games (91 of 111).

"When I came here, I wanted to let people know that I can really play and pretty much, I've proven that -- but I ain't got nothing to show for it," Harrington said. Losing is "one thing I never got to experience in my life, and it's rough. But I've learned that even while you're in turmoil, remain positive. It's not going to always be like this. I'm appreciative of this situation and when I get back to winning, I'll enjoy it a lot more."

Considering Artest's missteps in the past two seasons, Harrington probably would've been given the same opportunity to produce -- and win -- had he remained in Indiana. When told that his chance could've come last season after the Malice in the Palace, when Artest was suspended for the final 73 games of the regular season, Harrington laughed. "It's funny, I have a whole different point of view on that. I look at it, if I was there, [Artest] wouldn't have been in the game during that time," he said. "Because that was one of the situations where they didn't have nobody else to put in the game and they just left him out there. When I was there, we had two teams. If [the Pacers] had a 15 point lead with five minutes left, [the starters] were sitting on the sideline icing and we was finishing the game. I always felt, if I was there, [the brawl] never would've happened."

The Pacers still advanced to the playoffs without Artest last season, with Reggie Miller offering his heroics for the last run. Harrington suffered a miserable campaign, wearing his heart on his wristband following each of the Hawks' losses. This season has basically been more of the same, with Harrington's Hawks piling up the losses while the Pacers attempt to win in spite of Artest's antics once again.

"Ron is a fool for wanting to leave," Harrington said. Harrington, however, added that the portrait of Artest as a crazy young man isn't the most accurate. "I think what it is, it's hard for Ron to express himself. He does it the wrong way. Sometimes he goes overboard, but that's just who he is," he said. "You see he backpedaled [on his trade demand] a week later and said, 'I'm sorry.' " Where Artest is headed has been the greatest unsolved mystery of the last month of the NBA season. The Pacers have been extremely patient in moving the capricious and combustible forward, leaving Artest dangling in limbo with the Pacers and several of the teams reportedly in pursuit of Artest's services -- the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers -- doing the limbo in the standings until a resolution is reached.

After Artest made his trade demand on Dec. 10, O'Neal publicly campaigned for the Pacers to bring back Harrington. "Ever since I got traded, he's been trying to get me back," Harrington said with a laugh. "We're like brothers." Harrington, who spent his first six seasons in Indiana after being drafted No. 25 in 1998, told the story of how he had once formed a pact with O'Neal and Jonathan Bender that the trio would never part. "I think he's holding on to that," Harrington said of O'Neal. "Now look at it. Jonathan had to retire [because of knee complications]. I left. He's there by himself."

Harrington was rumored to be part of three-team deal that would've sent him back to Indiana, Artest to Denver, the Hawks receiving injured forward Nene and point guard Earl Watson -- a deal that apparently excited every team involved except the Hawks. Harrington, who will become a free agent this summer, has been the subject of trade rumors since last offseason. He finds the attention flattering, not distracting. "I'm happy that I might be traded for the right reasons -- teams have actually tried to trade for me. It's not the other way around, where my team is trying to trade me. It's kind of cool," he said. "A lot of people respect what I do out there. Right now, I'm just focused on playing the best that I can and trying to be the top free agent come next summer," he said.

Harrington said if he had to do it over again, he would've still asked to be traded from Indiana. "Yeah, I would," he said. "I just felt in Indiana, I was in a situation where they wasn't going to allow me to grow the way I felt I wanted to grow. I mean, obviously, I'd have more wins right now, but I felt it was time for me to grow. I think it would be hard to backpedal and go back."

Boston Celtics swingman Paul Pierce slipped into the training room in the visitor's locker room at MCI Center on Saturday and slapped a huge bandage over the 10 stitches that covered his forehead. Pierce explained that he slipped in his bedroom two nights before and cut his head on the nightstand. When told that he needed to make up a better story, Pierce began rubbing his head and said, "I know. That's what's so terrible about this."

The truth hurts sometimes. What might be worse for Pierce is having to watch the best statistical season of his career go to waste on a Celtics team headed nowhere. Pierce is the fifth-most efficient player in the NBA, averaging career-highs with 26.4 points on 49.8 percent shooting and 7.6 rebounds. He has scored 19 or more points in 33 of the Celtics' 34 games. "His offensive efficiency is off the charts now. More importantly, he's passing the ball. He's getting guys involved," Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said about Pierce, who also leads the team with 4.5 assists. "I do think at his position, he's the best rebounder in the league. And he's doing that even better. The way he plays, his spirit has been great for the team. It's been nice to see."

Pierce is putting up MVP-caliber numbers but could never be mentioned as a candidate because the Celtics' record (13-21) is so wretched. Boston is a mismatched collection of Pierce, mostly unseasoned youngsters and some unproven veterans. Following a disappointing 104-102 loss against Dallas -- in which Pierce scored a game-high 32 points -- the Celtics have lost three in a row and continue to moonwalk like Michael Jackson in the weaker-by-day Eastern Conference.

Pierce, who doesn't appear to fit with this hodge-podge team, has been the subject of trade rumors for a while in Boston. This summer, he was supposedly headed to Denver for Andre Miller and Nene. Then he was rumored to be going to the Los Angeles Clippers for Corey Maggette. But Pierce is still standing and, if anything, his performance this season has only enhanced his trade value. "That's part of the business. I really don't even care for the trade rumors. I don't even think about it," Pierce said. "It's totally out of my control. You go out there and say you want to be traded, but who's to say you're going to be in a better situation. All I got to do is go out there and do the best I can and whatever happens happens."

Although his efforts still result in losing and the trade rumors never cease, the eight-year veteran has managed to remain upbeat and done a better job of suppressing the Pierce pouty face that seem on the verge of permanence through previous years in Boston. "I've matured and I've learned," Pierce said. "Especially with the young group we have around us. They're still trying to find themselves, still trying to find their niche in this league. At the same time, you want to win, being in my position. Guys are looking to me for leadership and I have to lead by example. They watch everywhere I go, everything that I do and I just got to be a positive influence on them, so they can learn how to be a pro as they go."

This was not a small step for Pierce, who had his leadership questioned since Antoine Walker was traded from Boston the first time in 2003. And, after his despicable, jersey-tossing, face-taping performance after he was ejected during Game 6 of the Celtics' first-round series against the Pacers, Rivers began to question his star's maturity and ability to lead. This season, however, has helped Rivers come around some with Pierce. "It's not with words. He's starting to understand that," Rivers said. "I've never followed the most verbal guy. I've always followed the guy who showed you how to do it with his actions. Paul is starting to do that. It's easier when you do become verbal to say something when you've already done it. When you say something and you haven't done it, they're not going to follow it."

The first step Pierce had to take as a leader was at least attempting to come on the same page as Rivers. In Rivers' first season last year, the two clashed repeatedly. Rivers urged Pierce to become more unselfish with the ball and more proficient with his scoring opportunities. "I think it was pretty much all on me, you know, how I was going to take him," Pierce said of Rivers. "If I wanted to sit here and bump heads with the head coach and we'll both be miserable, it just wouldn't work out."

Said Rivers, "I didn't know if we would [arrive on the same page] or not. I thought we would. I just thought it would be a process."

And, apparently, the Doc knows best. In two seasons under Rivers, Pierce is shooting 46.7 percent from floor (compared to 40.9 percent from 2002-04) and 37.3 percent from beyond the three-point line (30.0 percent in the three seasons prior). Pierce is sixth in the Eastern Conference among forwards in fan balloting for the All-Star Game, trailing LeBron James, Jermaine O'Neal, Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber and, um, Ron Artest. The fans have never voted in Pierce, a four-time all-star, leaving him to rely exclusively on the astute judgment of the coaches of the teams he torches on a nightly basis. Pierce expects the same treatment this season, although he said he believes there aren't many forwards in the NBA playing better basketball right row. "You have a couple of other guys playing well. LeBron, of course. Tracy McGrady, those guys are going to be at the top," he said. "I'm just tying to get better. A lot of people don't recognize that, but it's always been that way for me.

I mean, I was drafted No. 10. You go back at my class and people still say, 'How did I go 10?' " With 12,987 career points, Pierce is 10th on the Celtics' all-time scoring list, trailing JoJo White by just 202 points for ninth. Pierce, however, doesn't think he should be mentioned among the best players in franchise history -- yet. "That's stuff for people in the media and past players to judge," Pierce said. "[The Celtics] have a lot of tradition, a lot of Hall of Famers, but the thing about that, a lot of them have championships. I feel like, until I get a championship, how can I be mentioned among them?"