TORONTO — The best thing about New York Knicks rookie RJ Barrett, says his coach, is that he doesn’t carry himself like a ‘typical’ NBA rookie.
Humble, mature, process driven. He might be new on the scene, but he sees the big picture.
Not that the pride of Mississauga, Ont., is without confidence. He’s got extra.
You don’t go from winning a Canadian national championship as a 14-year-old to a world championship as a 17-year-old and a US high-school championship as an 18-year-old to starring at Duke and becoming the face of one of the highest-profile franchises in all of sports as a 19-year-old while wallowing in self-doubt.
That’s not Barrett’s thing.
But there’s a difference between carrying yourself with poise and self-belief and cruising through your first NBA season pretending you’ve been there, done that.
“There have been young guys in this league who act like they know all the answers,” says Knicks head coach David Fizdale as Barrett prepared to play his first NBA game in his hometown with the Knicks against the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night. “[But] he’s always up underneath [the vets] trying to learn something new. When we’re talking match ups he’s always talking to Marcus Morris or Taj [Gibson] – ‘what does this guy like to do?’
“It’s just refreshing to see a guy so open to getting better and learning.”
Barrett would be the first to tell you that his first NBA season has happened fast.
“How many games have we played? 17?” said Barrett before taking the floor in front of an estimated 300 family and friends. “So that would be like basically half of my college season already. So yeah, just a lot of games”
Barrett was speaking from a podium for his pre-game media availability as he took the opportunity to add to the wave of Canadian NBA talent pledging to play for Canada as the men’s team tries to qualify for the 2020 Olympics this summer.
He got that out of the way early:
“One hundred per cent [I’m playing],” he said. “[I] definitely plan on playing for my country this summer, I’m very proud to say that, I try to play every summer. I’m 100 per cent planning on playing.”
Why?
“I feel like it’s the way to serve and give back to your country. So many people — especially being a basketball player and in the NBA — so many people give to me, give us every day so for us to give back and try to make our country proud.”
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Like we said, the rookie gets it.
More than any of the swelling wave of Canadian talent flooding through the upper reaches of basketball, Barrett has been groomed for these moments.
His father, men’s national team general manager Rowan Barrett, never missed an opportunity to expose his son to the NBA and elite basketball generally. One of RJ’s first memories of being at Scotiabank Arena was sitting courtside as his father was honoured at halftime upon his retirement from the national team.
Over the years it was a common thing to see Barrett in the hallways of the arena as Tristan Thompson or Cory Joseph came to town with Cleveland or San Antonio and the younger Barrett would get a chance to meet with LeBron James or Manu Ginobili.
“I was just trying to normalize things for him,” says Rowan Barrett, who was invited to several NBA training camps but ultimately played professionally in Europe. “It’s something that players from my generation didn’t really have, so by the time you get to that stage it’s a little overwhelming to get over it.
“So you want to normalize it and you help them, to help them envision [playing in the NBA] for themselves. And it’s becoming pretty common for our players – getting to those games and being able to expand their minds.”
Which doesn’t mean taking the floor at Madison Square Garden or lining up against DeMar DeRozan or trying to trap Kyrie Irving or working through the scouting report on Pascal Siakam feels normal quite yet.
“Sometimes when I’m on the court I literally just stop and am like, ‘Wow, I’m really here!’” the younger Barrett said. “So to me it’s just my everything, it means the world to me and it’s just the beginning.”
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He’s made an impressive start. He leads all rookies in minutes played this season and ranks in the top-five in points, rebounds and assists and has started more games (16) than the rest of the league’s 19-year-olds combined (eight).
Barrett’s averaging 15.1 points, 5.6 rebound and 3.6 assists while adding 1.4 steals a game as well. He’s had some huge games – he’s cracked 20 points or more in five of them, a career-high 15 rebounds, had six steals in one game and nine assists in another – and some rough outings too.
Not that you would know it.
“He’s a steady kid,” says Fizdale. “All the guys that I’ve worked with – when you can tell them something and they apply it right away? That’s usually a guy that’s pretty special and he’s one of those guys: if you show him something, he’s got it.
“You have to have certain kind of focus and maturity to do that and he has that … [and it is] critically important for young guys to have a certain kind of steadiness about them. It’s an 82-game season, there are going to bumps and bruises and ups and downs, days when the shots aren’t falling and if you can stay even through that you have a better chance of pulling out of that faster.”
But not all games are ‘one of 82.’ Some games mean a little more.
You only get to go home for the first time in your NBA career one time. So even for Barrett – mature beyond his years – Wednesday night wasn’t just any other game.
“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel different,” said Barrett. “It feels better, it feels great. So many emotions, but I can’t let my emotions get in the way of what needs to be done. So as excited and happy as I am, I’ve still got a game to play, I’ve still got a task to take care of.”
Spoken like a rookie, but handled like a pro.
