Matt Barnes

For other people named Matt Barnes, see Matt Barnes (disambiguation).

Matt Barnes

Barnes with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012
Personal information
Born	(1980-03-09) March 9, 1980 (age 44) Santa Clara, California, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	226 lb (103 kg)
Career information
High school	Del Campo (Fair Oaks, California)
College	UCLA (1998–2002)
NBA draft	2002: 2nd round, 46th overall pick
Selected by the Memphis Grizzlies
Playing career	2002–2017
Position	Small forward
Number	9, 21, 22
Career history
2002–2003	Fayetteville Patriots
2003–2004	Long Beach Jam
2004	Los Angeles Clippers
2004–2005	Sacramento Kings
2005	New York Knicks
2005–2006	Philadelphia 76ers
2006–2008	Golden State Warriors
2008–2009	Phoenix Suns
2009–2010	Orlando Magic
2010–2012	Los Angeles Lakers
2012–2015	Los Angeles Clippers
2015–2016	Memphis Grizzlies
2016–2017	Sacramento Kings
2017	Golden State Warriors
Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (2017)
Career statistics
Points	7,589 (8.2 ppg)
Rebounds	4,281 (4.6 rpg)
Assists	1,691 (1.8 apg)
Stats   at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Matt Kelly Barnes (born March 9, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Barnes was drafted in the second round of the 2002 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. He won an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors in his last season with the league in 2017. He currently is a basketball analyst for ESPN as well as NBC Sports California for Sacramento Kings games.

Early life

Barnes was born in Santa Clara, California, to a white mother and an African American father. ^[1] He attended Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks, California, where he was a letterman in football and basketball. He earned All-American, All-State, All-CIF, All-City, and All-League honors in each sport. ^[2]

Barnes played four seasons of college basketball at UCLA, where he was an All-Pacific-10 Honorable Mention selection in 2001.

Professional career

Fayetteville Patriots (2002–2003)

Barnes was selected with the 46th overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2002 NBA draft, and was immediately traded along with Nick Anderson, to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Wesley Person. ^[3] The Cavaliers assigned him for the NBA D-League, ^[4] and he joined the Fayetteville Patriots for the 2002–03 season.

Long Beach Jam (2003–2004)

Barnes signed with the Long Beach Jam of the ABA for their inaugural season in 2003, where he played with Dennis Rodman. ^[5] The team went 24–7 and won the ABA championship. ^[6] Barnes averaged 18.9 points and 6.8 rebounds. ^[7]

Los Angeles Clippers (2004)

Barnes signed a contract with the Los Angeles Clippers for the second half of the 2003–04 NBA season.

Sacramento Kings (2004–2005)

In October 2004, he signed with the Sacramento Kings. He made his debut for the Kings recording 17 points and 9 rebounds, establishing himself as a key rotation player for Sacramento. ^[8] He was traded halfway through the 2004–05 season along with Chris Webber to the Philadelphia 76ers, in exchange for Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Brian Skinner. He did not suit up for Philadelphia that season while recovering from a knee tendinitis, and was given an injury release.

New York Knicks (2005)

Barnes signed a free agent contract with the New York Knicks in October 2005. Although he appeared to secure a starting job with an impressive preseason and Allan Houston's retirement, ^[9] he was waived by the Knicks after playing just six games.

Philadelphia 76ers (2005–2006)

Barnes was claimed by the 76ers to serve a second stint in Philadelphia, ^[10] where he finished out the 2005–06 season.

Golden State Warriors (2006–2008)

Barnes signed with the Golden State Warriors before their first day of training camp in October 2006, ^[11] and effectively raised his status in the league since joining the team. With struggling forward Mike Dunleavy Jr. placed on the bench, Barnes was given more playing time by coach Don Nelson. On December 26, 2006, he hit seven three-point field goals to tie a Warriors franchise record. ^[12] The record was broken later that season by Jason Richardson, who hit 8 three-pointers on March 29, 2007. ^[13] Barnes, a high-school All-American wide receiver, says that if he had not been signed by the Warriors he would have tried out for the NFL. ^[14]

Before signing with Golden State, Barnes had only made 10 three-pointers in his career. In the 2006–07 season, he made 106. After joining Golden State, Matt's offense improved impressively, from 3 points a game in Philadelphia to 9.8, appearing in 76 games. He also added a strong 2007 post-season, with 11.1 ppg and 5.7 rpg in eleven playoff games and helped the #8 seed Warriors take down the #1 seed Mavericks in the 2007 playoffs.

On August 6, 2007, Barnes returned to the Warriors under a one-year contract. ^[15]

Barnes, along with teammates Stephen Jackson and Baron Davis, served as a Warriors team captain for the 2007–08 season. ^[16] He was not expected to return for the 2008–09 season. ^[17]

Phoenix Suns (2008–2009)

Barnes with the Magic

On July 22, 2008, Barnes signed a one-year contract with the Phoenix Suns. ^{[18] [19]} On November 14, 2008, Barnes received a two-game suspension for his role in the scuffle with Houston's Rafer Alston two days earlier. ^{[20] [21]}

Orlando Magic (2009–2010)

On July 23, 2009, Barnes signed a two-year deal with the Orlando Magic. Although he was able to opt out of his deal after the first year, Barnes stated that he would like to remain in Orlando. ^[22] After the Magic were eliminated in the 2010 NBA playoffs by the Boston Celtics, Barnes announced he would opt out of the final year of his contract. ^[23]

Los Angeles Lakers (2010–2012)

On July 23, 2010, Barnes signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. ^[24]

Return to the Clippers (2012–2015)

Barnes with the Clippers

Barnes signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in September 2012. ^[25] On October 31, 2012, the NBA suspended Barnes for one game after he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor for resisting, delaying or obstructing a police officer. ^[26] In June 2013, Barnes was named Defensive Player of the Year for the Clippers. ^[27] On July 10, 2013, Barnes re-signed with the Clippers to a multi-year deal. ^[28] In November 2013, Barnes was fined $25,000 for not leaving the court in a timely manner after an ejection in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder and for using his Twitter account during the game in violation of the NBA's rules. ^[29]

During the 2014–15 season, Barnes was fined multiple times. On December 13, he was fined $25,000 for kicking a water bottle and using language during a game against the Washington Wizards. ^[30] On January 25, 2015 he was fined $25,000 for what was said to be inappropriate language directed towards a fan during a game against the Phoenix Suns, although Barnes said that it was directed towards the Suns' owner. ^[31] On May 8, he was fined $50,000 for remarks made to James Harden's mother during a playoff game against the Houston Rockets. ^[32]

Memphis Grizzlies (2015–2016)

On June 15, 2015, Barnes was traded, along with Spencer Hawes, to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for shooting guard Lance Stephenson. ^[33]

Later that month, on June 25, Barnes was traded again, this time to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Luke Ridnour. ^[34] The move reunited Barnes with the team that originally drafted him in 2002. On December 28, 2015, Barnes was suspended by the NBA for two games for a physical altercation with New York Knicks coach Derek Fisher at the home of Barnes' estranged wife in Southern California in October. ^[35] On January 13, 2016, the NBA Players Association filed a grievance on behalf of Barnes to get his two-game suspension without pay rescinded. ^[36] Four days later, he was fined $35,000 by the NBA for publicly defending his violence towards Fisher in their October scuffle. ^[37] On February 24, he scored a season-high 25 points in the Grizzlies' 128–119 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. ^[38] On March 11, he recorded his first career triple-double with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 121–114 overtime win over the New Orleans Pelicans. ^{[39] [40]}

Return to Sacramento (2016–2017)

On July 9, 2016, Barnes signed with his hometown Sacramento Kings. ^[41] On February 20, 2017, he was waived by the Kings ^[42] to make room for the three players the Kings acquired in the DeMarcus Cousins trade. ^[43]

Return to Golden State (2017)

On March 2, 2017, just twelve days after being released from the Kings, Barnes punctuated his career with an NBA championship by signing with the Golden State Warriors. ^[44] The Warriors' starting forward, Kevin Durant, went down with a MCL injury, which left the team in need of a replacement forward. Barnes started in 5 games out of his 20 games played with the Warriors in the regular season. ^[45] The Warriors won the 2017 NBA championship after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 4–1 in the NBA Finals, giving Barnes his only championship ring after 14 seasons in the NBA and 16 years in professional basketball. The Warriors finished the playoffs with a 16–1 record, the best postseason winning percentage in NBA history. ^[46]

On December 11, 2017, Barnes announced his retirement from the NBA via a post on Instagram. ^[47]

Personal life

Barnes' younger brother Jason played football in the Canadian Football League. ^[48]

Barnes was married to Gloria Govan, who appeared in VH1's Basketball Wives and Basketball Wives: LA , and the couple have identical twin boys. Barnes was arrested in 2010 on suspicion of domestic violence against Govan, and for driving with a suspended license and threatening a police officer in July 2012. ^[49] They separated in 2014. ^[50]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high
†	Won an NBA championship

NBA

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2003–04	L.A. Clippers	38	9	19.1	.457	.154	.705	4.0	1.3	.7	.1	4.5
2004–05	Sacramento	43	9	16.6	.411	.227	.603	3.1	1.3	.7	.2	3.8
2005–06	New York	6	5	15.5	.367	.250	.750	4.0	1.0	.7	.0	4.3
2005–06	Philadelphia	50	0	10.8	.536	.182	.674	1.9	.4	.3	.1	3.0
2006–07	Golden State	76	23	23.9	.438	.366	.732	4.6	2.1	1.0	.5	9.8
2007–08	Golden State	73	18	19.4	.423	.293	.747	4.4	1.9	.7	.5	6.7
2008–09	Phoenix	77	40	27.0	.423	.343	.743	5.5	2.8	.7	.3	10.2
2009–10	Orlando	81	58	25.9	.487	.319	.740	5.5	1.7	.7	.4	8.8
2010–11	L.A. Lakers	53	0	19.2	.470	.318	.779	4.3	1.3	.7	.4	6.7
2011–12	L.A. Lakers	63	16	22.9	.452	.333	.742	5.5	2.0	.6	.8	7.8
2012–13	L.A. Clippers	80	4	25.7	.462	.342	.744	4.6	1.5	1.0	.8	10.3
2013–14	L.A. Clippers	63	40	27.5	.438	.343	.733	4.6	2.0	.9	.4	9.9
2014–15	L.A. Clippers	76	74	29.9	.444	.362	.779	4.0	1.5	.9	.7	10.1
2015–16	Memphis	76	45	28.8	.381	.322	.804	5.5	2.1	1.0	.8	10.0
2016–17	Sacramento	54	13	25.3	.384	.327	.758	5.5	2.8	.7	.3	7.6
2016–17†	Golden State	20	5	20.5	.422	.346	.870	4.6	2.3	.6	.5	5.7
Career		929	359	23.6	.436	.335	.745	4.6	1.8	.8	.5	8.2

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2007	Golden State	11	3	30.0	.450	.422	.722	5.7	2.4	1.5	.4	11.1
2010	Orlando	14	14	23.3	.400	.375	.850	4.7	1.4	.7	.2	6.4
2011	L.A. Lakers	10	0	13.1	.395	.167	.571	2.8	.5	.7	.2	3.6
2012	L.A. Lakers	11	0	16.8	.271	.161	.500	3.3	1.5	.9	.5	3.5
2013	L.A. Clippers	6	0	27.0	.545	.412	.842	5.0	.5	.7	.3	11.8
2014	L.A. Clippers	13	13	31.1	.421	.317	.684	4.5	1.8	.9	.2	9.4
2015	L.A. Clippers	14	14	29.2	.380	.267	.750	5.1	1.6	1.4	.7	7.6
2016	Memphis	4	4	34.8	.348	.167	.800	7.3	2.8	1.0	.3	10.8
2017†	Golden State	12	0	5.1	.267	.125	.000	.8	.6	.2	.0	.8
Career		95	48	22.6	.399	.297	.752	4.1	1.4	.9	.3	6.7

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1998–99	UCLA	30	8	13.1	.434	.294	.478	2.9	0.8	0.3	0.2	3.9
1999-00	UCLA	28	1	14.8	.471	.156	.488	2.6	1.0	0.7	0.4	5.6
2000–01	UCLA	32	26	30.3	.478	.120	.574	7.3	2.7	1.6	0.6	11.6
2001–02	UCLA	31	31	30.7	.471	.417	.619	6.2	3.5	1.1	0.3	13.5
Career		121	66	22.6	.469	.314	.566	4.8	2.0	1.0	0.4	8.8

References

1. Hoffarth, Tom (May 12, 2012). "Q and A: Lakers' Matt Barnes can remember his mom through his Athletes vs. Cancer foundation". insidesocial.com. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
2. "#23 Matt Barnes". UCLABruins.com. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
3. reporter, Sam Smith, Tribune pro basketball (27 June 2002). "Houston, no problem". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
4. "Cavaliers Sign Matt Barnes and Smush Parker to Contracts". Cleveland Cavaliers. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
5. "Rodman, on the Rebound, Makes Jam Debut". Los Angeles Times. 2004-01-17. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
6. "Long Beach Jam Wins League Title". Los Angeles Times. 2004-03-10. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
7. "Long Beach Jammed at Pyramid". OurSports Central. 2004-02-08. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
8. Kings vs. Mavericks – Box Score
9. Picker, David (27 October 2005). "A Scrappy Barnes Passes His Final Knicks Audition (Published 2005)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2023-01-29.
10. Barnes re-signs with 76ers
11. Kings' Matt Barnes off to Golden State Archived October 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
12. Davis (21 points, 16 assists) golden for Warriors in win
13. Hu, Janny (March 30, 2007). "J-Rich gets healthy vs. Suns, Guard sets team record for threes". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved August 8, 2010.
14. Hu, Janny (December 14, 2006). "Barnes turns Warriors into believers". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved August 5, 2010.
15. "Warriors Re-Sign Free Agent Forward Matt Barnes To Contract". NBA . August 6, 2007. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
16. "Tattooed Jackson focused on future with Warriors". ESPN.com. 2007-10-02. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
17. Hu, Janny (March 31, 2010). "Later Daze, Baron: Davis leaves Warriors for Clippers". The San Francisco Chronicle.
18. "Suns Sign Matt Barnes to One-Year Contract". NBA.com. July 22, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
19. Greene, Josh (July 22, 2008). "Suns Ink Barnes to a One-Year Deal". NBA.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
20. Feigen, Jonathan (November 14, 2008). "Rockets' Alston to miss 2 games because of fight". Chron.com. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
21. Stein, Marc (November 14, 2008). "NBA fight fallout: Nash, Alston, Barnes suspended". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
22. @Matt_Barnes22 (November 4, 2010). "@Magic_Mikey I wanna b w/the magic 4 the rest of my career luv it here. U guys let them know weather or not u want me around??" (Tweet). Retrieved 2010-12-29– via Twitter.
23. Pollakoff, Brett (May 31, 2010). "Orlando's Matt Barnes to Opt Out of His Contract, Become a Free Agent". NBA Fanhouse. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
24. "Veteran Barnes signs with Lakers". ESPN . July 23, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
25. "CLIPPERS SIGN MATT BARNES". NBA.com. September 14, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
26. "Clippers' Barnes suspended for season opener". NBA. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
27. Clippers Award Series – Matt Barnes
28. "CLIPPERS SIGN MATT BARNES, DARREN COLLISON, RYAN HOLLINS AND CHRIS PAUL". NBA.com. July 10, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
29. Turner, Broderick (2013-11-14). "Clippers' Matt Barnes is fined $25,000 by NBA in wake of ejection". Los Angeles Times.
30. Rohlin, Melissa (2015-03-05). "Matt Barnes tweets that if he'd kicked LeBron James he'd be in jail". Los Angeles Times.
31. Bolch, Ben (2015-01-28). "Clippers' Matt Barnes says fine came from exchange with Suns owner". Los Angeles Times.
32. Turner, Broderick (2015-05-08). "NBA fines Clippers' Matt Barnes $50,000 for comments to James Harden's mom". Los Angeles times.
33. "Hornets Acquire Spencer Hawes and Matt Barnes from the Los Angeles Clippers in Exchange for Lance Stephenson". NBA.com. June 15, 2015. Archived from the original on June 16, 2015.
34. "Grizzlies acquire Matt Barnes from Charlotte Hornets". NBA.com. June 25, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
35. Sources: Matt Barnes suspended two games for altercation with Derek Fisher
36. Sources: Players association files grievance on behalf of Grizzlies’ Matt Barnes
37. Bondy, Stefan (17 January 2016). "NBA fines Matt Barnes $35,000 for saying 'violence is never the answer, but sometimes it is'". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
38. Barnes has 25 as Grizzlies defeat Lakers 128–119
39. "Stephenson leads Grizzlies to 121–114 OT win over Pelicans". NBA.com . Archived from the original on 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
40. Matt Barnes finishes tonight with his first career...
41. "Kings Sign Four Free Agents". NBA.com. July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
42. "Kings Acquire Hield, Evans, Galloway, and 2017 Draft Selections". NBA.com. February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
43. Graf, Dan (February 20, 2017). "Report: Kings preparing to release 14-year NBA veteran Matt Barnes". FoxSports.com. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
44. "Warriors Sign Matt Barnes". NBA.com. March 2, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
45. "Matt Barnes caught a lucky break. Now he's an NBA champion". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
46. "Warriors (16–1) Record Best Postseason Winning Percentage in NBA History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
47. "Matt Barnes calling it a career, says he did it his way". ESPN.com. December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
48. Medina, Mark. "Matt Barnes Channels grief over Mothers death to support cancer screerning". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017.
49. Tate, Amethyst (2012-07-31). "Lakers' Matt Barnes Arrested Twice In Less Than Two Years". International Business Times. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
50. NBA STAR MATT BARNES SEPARATED FROM GLORIA GOVAN... 'Trust Issues'

External links

• NBA biography
• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com  and  Basketball-Reference.com
• Yo, I'm Matt Barnes, 14-year NBA vet and World Champion, and I want to talk about cannabis in sports. AMA.