Santa Barbara, CA - I remember exactly where I was when I found out that the Grizzlies had traded for Matt Barnes.
I was on the seventh fairway at Stonebridge Golf Club with my next-door neighbor (and former PGA Tour pro) John Melnick. John and his wife are big Grizzlies fans, often sitting with my wife at home games and hosting her in their living room when the Grizzlies are on the road.
“Hey John,” I called out as soon as I got the text. “You’re not going to believe this, but we just got Matt Barnes.”
“Matt Barnes? The guy who played for the Clippers?” John replied.
“Yeah.”
I’ll be honest. I didn’t really know how to feel or what to think. My first memory of Matt Barnes is the night he dropped 30 points on the Grizzlies while with the Golden State Warriors. More recently, all Griz fans know that Barnes was a regular pain in the butt to Memphis as a member of the (Boo! Hiss!) Clippers.
Fast-forward a couple of weeks to a promotional event that I hosted at the Memphis Zoo with Mike Conley. After some small talk about things like titanium plates being inserted into one’s face, the conversation turned to Matt Barnes.
“What can you tell me about Matt Barnes?” I asked.
“Well, he and I have the same stylist,” Conley replied. “He’s actually a pretty good guy.”
“The kind of guy you love to have as a teammate, but hate to play against?”
“Yeah.”
That makes Matt Barnes the current captain of the All Bill Laimbeer Team – guys that you absolutely hate as an opponent because they get under your skin, talking smack non-stop and playing with a physical edge that rides the line between rough and dirty. But, if this guy is on your team? You absolutely love him because he’s going to have everyone’s back and will do whatever it takes to win.
I spoke with Barnes Wednesday morning after practice and he was upbeat about his new situation, odd though it may seem, transitioning between rivals. “This is a good group of guys. Playing them so much while I was a Clipper, I really picked up on what this team is about and how they played and it’s really my style.”
The acquisition of Barnes gives the Grizzlies an added dimension of athleticism on the wings. He can defend his small forward position very well and isn’t afraid to play against bigger forwards when the Grizzlies go small. He also has a decent three-point stroke. In fact, he made more triples last season than Courtney Lee.
“Everyone’s focus is on winning,” Barnes told me. “That makes me excited. All I want to do is win. To be on a winning team, everyone has to sacrifice a little bit and this team does that.”