Matt Barnes announces his retirement
The journeyman forward is ending his NBA career on a high note, after winning his first championship
After a long NBA career, Matt Barnes is hanging up his sneakers. The journeyman forward announced his retirement on social media, saying, among other things, “Had a cool 15yr run!! Traveled the world met alota cool people, some will be brothers for the rest of my life!”
Technically, Barnes only played 14 NBA seasons, but that’s still mighty impressive. He bounced around nine different teams, providing energy, intangibles, and a whole lot of toughness everywhere he went.
He was never a star, but finished his career with averages of 8.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game.
He also played a key role in two crucial moments in Golden State Warriors history. Barnes first joined the Warriors for the 2006-2007 season, the famous year of We Believe, and played a critical role on the team. Then, when Kevin Durant went down with an injury this past spring, Barnes came aboard again, and got big minutes for a championship team, the only ring of his career.
Unfortunately, his career was not without blemishes, and Barnes had a fair share of highly unfortunate controversies. During his career he was accused of domestic violence, as well as assaulting former NBA player Derek Fisher. He also was caught on cameras using homophobic slurs.
Barnes’ signing last season gave Warriors fans an opportunity to talk about how much off-court issues should impact who we root for. A few of our writers partook in a roundtable at the time, to discuss this important issue.
Everyone’s stance is different; personally, I was very disappointed that the team brought back Barnes amid such ugly accusations. As such, I’m having a hard time finding any sadness about his retirement.
Still, he played a key role in two of the most exciting Warriors’ teams ever, and that’s worth noting.