Matt Barnes won a championship ring with the Golden State Warriors in 2017.
He doesn’t have the ring. He doesn’t want it. He feels he didn’t do anything to deserve it.
On the “All The Smoke” episode with former NBA star Tracy McGrady that aired Thursday, Barnes said his ring is in the office of Warriors vice president of communications Raymond Ridder.
When McGrady shared detail about his final NBA season with the San Antonio Spurs, he and Barnes expressed similar emotions about the playoff runs in their respective final seasons
The day before the final game of the 2013 Spurs regular season, McGrady signed to help fill in for injured players. He had recently finished playing in China and now says he was mentally checked out of basketball, but out of respect to Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, he rejoined the NBA.
McGrady didn’t play in the regular season. He didn’t see action until Game 4 of the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers, in which he played five minutes in a blowout win to complete the sweep.
In the second round the Spurs faced the Warriors. Popovich told McGrady he didn’t want the veteran to be “chasing” the young team around, but that he’d play in the next series if they got there. Again, McGrady said about five total minutes of action against Golden State.
The Western Conference Finals came against the Memphis Grizzlies.
“(Popovich) takes me on the bus, like, ‘You ready?’ McGrady said. “I was like, ‘Bruh, I’ve been waiting for this my whole career.'”
He played 6 minutes, 45 seconds in the first game and didn’t see the court for the rest of the series. He knew he wasn’t in a position to complain about it.
“You can’t say nothing,” McGrady said. “I am Tracy. I ain’t T-Mac. I can’t say nothing.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q00VhTW-jPg?start=3716]
McGrady played twice in the Finals: Game Two was for 7 minutes, 43 seconds in a 19-point loss. Game Three was for 6 minutes, 39 seconds in a 36-point win.
The Spurs lost the series to the Miami Heat in seven games. McGrady said they flew back to San Antonio, he thanked Popovich, and then he left the NBA for good.
“Listen man, if they would’ve won that championship, I know I was on the team,” McGrady said before pausing, struggling to phrase his feelings properly.
“I’m a competitor, bro. I can’t go through that journey and have satisfaction with that. It would’ve been cool for them to get that ring, but it was hard for me to even accept if we had won that. I gotta go through the journey. The journey is what makes that fulfilling.”
Stephen Jackson, who co-hosts the podcast with Barnes, tried to argue it would have been nice to have that piece of hardware, but McGrady was unmoved.
Barnes backed McGrady up with personal experience.
“I got a free ride, I got a free ring,” Barnes said. “I don’t count myself as an NBA champ for the exact same reason you said.”
Barnes was on the 2017 Warriors championship team, but he only played 20 regular season games and received few playoff minutes.
“Obviously I wasn’t at the standpoint of who you were, but the culmination of my career, when people say you won a ring, I don’t count that for the exact same reason you said,” Barnes said.
“I was playing good leading up — I came in when (Kevin Durant) went down. Played consistent, 20, 25 minutes a game.”
Durant missed 19 games from March 2 through April 5. Barnes played in each, starting five and averaging 21.5 minutes per game.
In the third-to-final game of the regular season, Durant returned. Barnes got injured.
“Worst ankle sprain of my life. I’m not healthy until the end of the second round when they’re already 8-0,” Barnes said. “So me being a vet, knowing they’re not going to change the rotation, I don’t expect them to change the rotation. I’m just gonna sit here and be a super vet and cheer these (expletives) on, talk to people when they need to be talked to, and just enjoy the ride.”
Barnes returned in round two, recording five minutes combined in Games 1 and 2 against the Utah Jazz and then played 13 minutes in the blowout Game 4 to complete the second-round sweep.
He played 10 minutes in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs and almost 15 minutes in Game 2, but didn’t get more than five minutes in another game that year.
“It’s amazing to hear you say it, because I don’t count that ring,” Barnes said. “I didn’t sweat, I wasn’t in the (expletive) dog hole with these dudes, I didn’t get to guard LeBron … I feel you, it’s interesting to hear you say that.”
Instead, Barnes appreciates that championship for his kids.
“The best part about it was the twins they got to enjoy the ride. You couldn’t tell my (expletive) kids they weren’t on the court,” Barnes said. “They were right up there with Steph and KD trying to grab the trophy. My boys got their rings. That was the absolute best part.”
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