RJ Barrett was born Rowan Barrett Jr. on June 16, 2000, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The New York Knicks star is the oldest of two boys born to athlete parents, former basketball star Rowan Barrett and collegiate track star Kesha Duhaney. He spent his early childhood with his family in France before they moved to Mississauga, a city just outside Toronto.
Here’s what you need to know about RJ Barrett’s family:
1. RJ Barrett’s Father Is Rowan Barrett, a Canadian Basketball Star Who Now Works as the General Manager of the Canadian Men’s Basketball Team
Barrett’s parents, Rowan Barrett and Kesha Duhaney are both of Jamaican descent. His father was an only child and was raised in Toronto by Jamaican parents who put the emphasis on school first and sports second, Sportsnet reported.
Although Barrett Sr. would grow up to be a well-known Canadian basketball player, the sport wasn’t even on his radar when he was a child. Running track was his passion and he told Sportsnet that he looked forward to recess at school, when he and his friends would race every single day.
“They had the lines on the playground at school — a 100-meter straightaway,” he shared. “And every single day, religiously. Every. Day. We’d line up and it would be ‘On your mark, get set, go,’ and we’d be dipping at the finish line. It would be, ‘I got you, I beat you.’ It was awesome.” Another sport played by a young Rowan Barrett and his friends was tetherball.
When the ball got wrapped up near the top of the pole, the kids had to jump and stop it from getting wrapped up. “Now when you look at it, developmentally, you had the hand-eye, the jumping in tetherball, and then you’re doing sprints,” he said. “I played soccer, so I had the stamina, the angles, the give-and-go actions.” A basketball star in the making, though he didn’t know it yet.
He began playing in a school league at the end of elementary school, but he told Sportsnet that it just seemed like another sport at the time, a fun activity with his friends. It wasn’t until a few older high school stars told him to attend Five-Star Basketball Camp in Pennsylvania that he really dove into basketball. “It was an awesome, awesome experience,” he told the publication. “I started to see some success and then I grew.”
Rowan Barrett attended St. John’s University in Queens, New York, where he played college basketball. After college, he didn’t get drafted into the NBA and instead played overseas from 1997 to 2008, in France, Spain, Greece, Israel, Argentina and Venezuela. He also played for the Canadian national team and was its captain at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Rowan Barrett now works as the general manager of the Canadian senior men’s national team, his LinkedIn shows.
2. RJ Barrett’s Parents Didn’t Push Him to Play Basketball But He Naturally Gravitated Toward It
When Barrett was young, his family moved often due to his father’s overseas career and they eventually settled in France for five years, from 2003 to 2008. “When we started having children we wanted to settle in one country, get a language and some normality, and we decided on France,” Rowan Barrett told Slam.
“We were in a town called Dijon, another called Chalon and another, Lyon, in southern France. It was a soccer country, so RJ played both soccer and basketball and ran a little track, but his passion was always basketball.” After Barrett Sr.’s career ended in 2008, the family moved to Mississauga, Ontario, the Athletic reported.
He said while he never pushed Barrett to play basketball, it was clear from a young age that the boy was passionate about the sport. “He would always be out on the court after the games, shooting, you know, coming in after practice,” Rowan Barrett shared with CBC.
He said his team had a second team for children so Barrett was able to play with other kids while his father played professionally. “Same uniform as Dad, and everything else. He had the same number. It was good early beginnings for him,” he shared.
The Knicks star’s father recalled that when they moved to Canada, he was hesitant about his son focusing on only one sport, but his wife convinced him to train him. “My wife was pushing the issue: ‘Look at him, he loves the game, you have to train him,'” he told Sportsnet.
“He was always long and lean and running and jumping,” Rowan Barrett told the Athletic. “He had all these natural abilities. When he showed that willingness to really get after it and train and do things that kids at that age usually don’t want to do, that’s the point I started thinking this could be really special.”
Barrett’s parents kept their son humble, however, and he told CBC, “It’s kinda hard [to get overconfident] when your dad’s an Olympian and you realize his jersey’s on the wall right there, he’s done a lot more.”
The Knicks star shared that he looks up to his father and they have a close connection. “He’s at every game. If you’re watching me, I look over at him a lot,” he shared. “He makes a certain face and I know what it is. We have that connection off the court too. He’s a loving father, always there for my brother and me.”
3. RJ Barrett’s Mother Is Kesha Duhaney, a New York Native Who Ran Track in College
Barrett’s mother, Kesha Duhaney is also of Jamaican descent and she grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Like Barrett Sr., Duhaney was a collegiate athlete and ran track at St. John’s, where they met. According to Sportsnet, Duhaney was an NCAA sprinter and long-jumper.
She came from an athletic family; her parents ran track for the Jamaican national team, her brother played football at Maryland, and her sister Dahlia Duhaney was a sprinter who competed for Jamaica at the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992. Dahlia Duhaney became a world champion at the 1991 IAAF World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, winning in the 4 × 100 m relay, the Athletic reported.
Barrett Sr. joked with the publication, “Believe me, her family spares no opportunity to let me know that R.J.’s athleticism came from their side.”
Duhaney was really involved in Barrett’s upbringing and taught him English when they were living in France and attending school in French. She told the Globe and Mail that while they tried to make sure Barrett played all sports, he kept coming back to basketball. “We had a toy room where we put all the other balls from different sports, and we hid the basketball, and he would run around and search for the basketball,” she shared. “He always loved basketball.”
4. RJ Barrett’s Godfather Is Former NBA Star Steve Nash
It’s even more clear that Barrett was destined for the NBA when considering who his godfather is, former NBA star Steve Nash. Nash and Barrett Sr. met each other when they played for Canada’s Under 19 squad and quickly became friends. “From day one, we had a friendship that was important to me,” Nash said of his friendship with Barrett Sr., who’s two years older than him. “He took care of me when I was young, and he didn’t need to.”
Nash didn’t have to think twice about becoming Barrett’s godfather when he was asked, and he bought the future Knicks star his first crib when he was born, ESPN shared. When Barrett was 12, his godfather made him go through intense workouts while the national team practiced.
“Steve is a better person than he was a basketball player,” Rowan Barrett told the publication about his son’s godfather.
Barrett said it was crazy growing up and watching his godfather playing in the NBA. He said when he was 10 or 11, he watched Nash play against Kobe Bryant and he asked his dad, “Dad, what’s Uncle Steve gonna do against Kobe?” Barrett shared with ESPN that seeing Nash go through it made him want to be in that position even more.
5. RJ Barrett Has a Younger Brother Named Nathan Barrett Whose Goal Is Also to Pursue Basketball
Barrett has a brother named Nathan, nicknamed Nate, who’s around four years younger than him. His brother is just as competitive as the rest of the family, he told Slam. “In my family, we’re very competitive. Everyone is always trying to beat each other. Everyone is an athlete, so that’s where I get all my competitive drive.”
In a video for The Players’ Tribune, Barrett shared that he and his brother both grew up speaking French as well as English. However, he said their parents don’t speak French so sometimes the boys would talk about their parents in French when they didn’t want them to understand.
Nathan Barrett attended Montverde Academy, like his older brother, which he said he chose for the basketball program.
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RJ Barrett’s Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know