Harrison Barnes has never been a stranger to making headlines with “firsts” — some his fault, some not. He was the first player to Skype his college choice (his fault), the first to be voted AP Preseason First Team All American (not his fault), and potentially the first to have a nickname invented for him on the basis of his future stardom (fault for that is disputed).
Barnes’ latest first isn’t nearly as exciting. And that’s exactly what the “first” is — lack of excitement. For the first time in the career of probably the most heralded high school recruit since Greg Oden, Barnes isn’t front page news. His “brand” isn’t making headlines. The prognoses of the talent scouts around him aren’t his prerogative.
And for the 2nd-year player, things couldn’t be better. In fact, the surprisingly smooth transition from childhood prodigy, to relatively average (by his standards) college play, to solid NBA contributor, can be a lesson not only for other players following in his footsteps, but maybe even more so for the fans themselves.
Barnes came onto the college stage three years ago as the aforementioned #1 overall recruit and phenomenon that he was. In those respects, some saw his play at North Carolina as a disappointment. The small forward was great, but never wholly dominant. While his college statistics were solid by any measure (16 ppg in 2 years at Chapel Hill), he displayed the tell-tale signs of a potential draft bust: lack of explosiveness and growth in his game.
Barnes was consistently consistent at UNC, but scouts want to see improvement in leaps in bounds. Consequently, his draft stock dropped from top three to merely top ten by the time he entered the draft in 2012 and was picked up by a Golden State team that seemed to be headed in the right direction, but needed more of a game changer than what Barnes had shown at Carolina — where he led, but never elevated his team.
However, Barnes seems to be an outlier in that he was potentially overrated as a franchise savior, but has still made a serious impact in the league instead of fading away like many of his peers who’ve fell victim to others’ expectations.
From a basketball point of view, the reasons for this are obvious. Mark Jackson and the Warriors’ staff have been putting him in spots to be successful, and Barnes isn’t asked to create much offense at the rim off the dribble. He’s able to pick his spots and grow with a lessened role while Steph Curry and Klay Thompson garner most of the opposing team’s attention. The result is that Barnes has been able to make an impact without feeling like he has to take over.
You can’t miss how comfortable the Iowan looks on the more open NBA floor, which is interesting considering how tight he often seemed in college.
There seems to be a lesson in there somewhere, and not for Harrison Barnes. The perimeter forward has fit perfectly into his role at Golden State, but only because he bucked the trend and has mostly ignored what scouts and fans wanted out of him.
If the 2010 #1 ESPN recruit had tried to take over the franchise, or jump right on to an All-NBA team (expected early in his career), he’s like be sitting flat on the bench instead playing heavy minutes for one of the more exciting teams in the NBA this season.
What basically anyone around the sport should take away from Barnes’ story, is how narratives and expectations can destroy young player’s psyches and eventually their careers. Barnes was never going to be the next Kobe, but that isn’t his fault. And as our society’s love affair with passing the blame grows, somehow the scout’s mistakes with evaluating Harrison Barnes became his mistakes.
The lesson here is to sometimes just sit back and let these guys make mistakes, learn, and become the players they are. More often than not, endless shock jock talk and predictions just screws these guys up. Barnes may never live up to the hype others built around him, but thankfully for the Warriors and fans of basketball everywhere, he was smart enough to know he didn’t have to.
About the Author: Alec Lepage is a 30-something sports writer and blogger in Denver who got his start covering high school football. He has contributed to multiple sports blogs, and covers the NFL and NBA for Dish.
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