Harrison Barnes isn’t accustomed to watching the playoffs – or the NBA Finals, for that matter – on TV. Barnes was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in 2012. In his rookie year, the Warriors won 47 games. The next year, 51. The year after that, 67. Then, of course, the famous 73 wins. Barnes isn’t used to losing, and lose he did last season, more often than not. In his first year with the Dallas Mavericks, Barnes’ team went 33-49. Obviously, they fell far short of the playoffs. Barnes didn’t like how that felt, he told Dria Roland of Complex:
“this was the longest summer I’ve ever been a part of—I felt like I retired!” Barnes said with a laugh. It was a wake-up call, he told Complex.
Barnes addressed a few other topics in the interview, as well.
On Mavs rookie Dennis Smith Jr.:
Dennis is a great kid. I mean, I gave him a hard time because I feel like he should have went to North Carolina over NC State, but he’s a good kid. He comes from a good family and he’s got a lot of tools that will allow him to be a very good player in this league for a very long time.
On being embraced by Dallas:
Oh, no question. Since the day I got there the city’s always shown a lot of love. The players on the team have been great. We had a lot of transition last year and a tough season, but the guys are what allowed me to get through it, for sure.
On what he’s learned from Dirk Nowitzki:
I don’t get asked that! I think Dirk, just his work ethic. When he came in the league you look where he started, to be able to become MVP, be a perennial All-Star, a lot of people said he would never be able to lead his team to a championship—which he did with no other All-Stars on the team, which is very rare, especially in today’s NBA—I think how he is always just precise and diligent about his work ethic is the biggest thing I’ve learned.
In his first year with the Mavs, Barnes put up a career-high 19.2 points per game to go with five rebounds and 1.5 assists. He shot 46.8 percent from the field and 35.1 percent from downtown.
