Getty/Harry How Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors gets into it against the Clippers in Staples Center in Los Angeles during the 2019 Playoffs.
Harrison Barnes spent his first four years of his career starting in Golden State. His time coincided with the Splash Brothers evolving into the scariest shooting backcourt ever in NBA history.
As Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry grew to become superstars, Barnes thrived in the shadows and made a name for himself as the prototypical three and D that many teams coveted at the time.
Barnes was part of the 2016 73-9 team that attempted to top the 72-10 Chicago Bulls by winning a title, but ran out of gas at the end when they blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA finals to the Cavaliers.
To make matters worse, the former Tarheel went 5 for 32 shooting and 3 for 15 from three in the last three games. Had he showed up for one of those games, the Warriors probably would have won back-to-back titles and he may have never left the Warriors.
Everyone knows what transpired after. The Warriors successfully landed Kevin Durant in Oakland, and Barnes signed a lucrative four-year $94 million deal with the Mavericks.
Apparently, there might have been bad blood between Barnes and Draymond Green when Barnes left the contenders to Texas. On the ‘The Draymond Green Show’, Green reminisces with Damian Lillard of how Barnes still does not talk to Green since his departure.
“Harrison Barnes, I think to this day [he] still don’t like me for KD coming here. The reality is, ‘I didn’t tell them to trade you to bring KD in’… He took it very personally because of the story that came out that I cried to KD in the car.
It sucks that you got traded but you went and made your money.”
Draymond has a point. Barnes career did not take off until he left the Bay and saw his numbers shoot up across the board. His scoring jumped from 11.7 to 19.2 in his first year away from the Warriors in Dallas.
Meanwhile, Durant and the Warriors won back-to-back titles and made it impossible for any opposing team to even compete against them. The team has been discussed amongst the best teams in NBA history.
It didn’t seem too much of a rift until the bombastic forward tells Lillard how Barnes invited all his former Warrior teammates except Green to his wedding. That is when it became obvious that Barnes seemingly felt a sort of way towards Green.
“This dude invites Steph, Klay, everybody to his wedding except me. All these dudes were at the same meeting as I was at with KD.
I didn’t take it personal, because it is what it is. I wasn’t invited to the wedding. I thought it was funny more than anything.”
Harrison Barnes Career Since
Barnes played two and a half seasons in Dallas before being dealt to the Sacramento Kings. Although the Mavericks failed to stay relevant, Barnes led his team in scoring his first two years there.
The former Tarheel star will best be remembered not for his play on the court, but for being traded mid-game to Sacramento.
Harrison Barnes was on the court for the Mavericks when reports came down that he was traded.
Set to finish his third full season with the Kings, Barnes has been one of the most consistent players for the infamous underwhelming Kings squad. Having been involved in numerous trade rumors, the Kings decided it was best to keep Barnes this season to hopefully end the 15-year playoff drought in Sacramento, and get in the play-in game.
Warriors Have Not Looked Back After Barnes Left
After Durant helped win two titles in three seasons with Golden State, he left to Brooklyn to start his own journey.
The Dubs then effectively traded newly signed D’Angelo Russell to Minnesota for Andrew Wiggins, a more athletic Harrison Barnes. Since then, Wiggins has been able to take a backseat to the potent firepower the Dubs present on offense. Operating mainly as a three and D forward, Wiggins has managed to parlay all that into a spot as an All-Star starter.
Barnes may still be salty, but it’s tough to blame the Warriors for doing what they did. Within the last two seasons, the Dubs have managed to reload and are right back in contention. Pretty good for a team that failed to make the playoffs the last couple years.