Matt Barnes has been controversial his entire NBA career. The classic guy that you loved to play with but hated to play against. Barnes played for nine different teams in 14 NBA seasons.
Because of his inability to catch on with an NBA roster thus far this season, Barnes announced his retirement from the NBA through Instagram on Monday:
Barnes has always been known for his attitude and desire to mix it up on and off the court (ahem, Derek Fisher, ahem) but his grittiness and his willingness to play hard-nosed defense and his ability to knock down the corner three-pointer, gave him a role on many solid to great NBA teams over the past decade and a half, including being a member of the Golden State Warriors NBA championship team in 2016-17.
He averaged 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in 23.6 minutes per game in his 14 NBA seasons.
A pretty impressive career for a guy drafted 46th in the 2nd round of the 2002 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies.
He is one of few NBA players to last as long in the NBA as he did that don’t really resonate or aren’t remembered as being a member of one team in general, Barnes feels like a Clipper or a Warrior to me.
For as controversial and confrontational as he was on the court, he was always known for his charitable work and intelligence off of it. He is definitely one of the better role players over the past 14 years in the NBA.
