The Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings are currently involved in one of the best NBA playoffs first round series we’ve ever witnessed. With the series tied heading into Wednesday, the Warriors won a thriller to take a 3-2 lead back to the friendly confines of Chase Center in San Francisco.
The two teams have been nip and tuck in every game, with some of the most elite playmaking and shotmaking you’ll find in any playoff series. At the center of it all is Warriors superstar Stephen Curry and rising Kings star De’Aaron Fox, but lost in the shuffle is Kings forward Harrison Barnes, who was a key member of the Warriors’ 2015 title team. He was also a key cog in their epic 2016 collapse against the Cleveland Cavaliers when they blew a 3-1 NBA Finals lead to become the first and still the only team to do so in the NBA Finals.
In games 5-7 with the Warriors minus Draymond Green because of a suspension, center Andrew Bogut injuring his knee, and forward Andre Iguodala hobbled by a back injury, Barnes was expected to step up. But the former UNC star didn’t, going 5-for-32 from the field in the final three games.
Following his missed game-winner in Sunday’s Game 4 Barnes seemed unfazed and confident that if given another opportunity he would knock it down.
Barnes ‘Struggles Led To KD’s Arrival
Following the epic loss, the Warriors courted superstar Kevin Durant heavily, and when he decided to join them that meant Harrison Barnes was now expendable. Reports are Green called KD from the parking lot begging him to join the Dubs, and while that may be a bit far-fetched, it seems as if Barnes believes Green was at the forefront of KD coming to the Bay.
Earlier this week, Green took to his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” to talk about Barnes not liking him despite still being close with Curry, Klay Thompson and Iguodala.
“Harrison Barnes, I think to this day, don’t like me for KD coming here,” Green explained. “And the reality is, I didn’t tell Warriors GM Bob Myers to trade you and bring KD in. … He took it very personally, because of that story that came out that I cried to KD in the car. He took it very personally at me. That dude invites Steph, Klay everybody to his wedding except me.”
“I didn’t take it personally ’cause it is what it is. … It sucks that you got traded, but you went and made your money.”
KD Move Netted Two Cakewalk Championships
While Barnes might not have been happy about the move, it was for a top-two player in the league in KD, and it netted the Warriors back-to-back championships and three consecutive NBA Finals appearances. And, as Green stated, Barnes made much more money elsewhere than he would’ve with the Warriors, and he’s a key piece of the current Kings rebuild, helping the franchise reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
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