Harrison Barnes

High school career

Harrison Barnes was rated as the number 1 player in the class of 2010 by Scout.com and in the ESPNU 100. He was rated as the number 2 player by Rivals.com. In his junior year, Barnes and teammate Doug McDermott led Ames High School to an Iowa 4A state championship where he had 24 points and 8 rebounds in the final, capping off a 26-0 season. In his senior year, Barnes and McDermott led Ames to a 27-0 season and a second straight Iowa 4A state championship becoming Iowa's big-school class's first team to go undefeated in consecutive seasons. In the finals he scored 19 points against Southeast Polk. He averaged 27.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 4.0 assists during his senior year and was selected to the USA Today All-USA First Team. Barnes capped off his Ames High School career as their all-time leading scorer with 1,787 points. Barnes played in the 4th annual Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic where he scored 18 points for Skip To My Lou.

On January 20, 2010, it was announced that Barnes was selected to the 2010 Junior National Select Team. The team played at the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon, on April 10. He was also selected to play in the 2010 McDonald's All-American Game where he led the West team to a 107-104 victory. He scored a team high 18 points and was named co-MVP with Jared Sullinger. He also played in the 2010 Jordan Brand Classic where he was named co-MVP with Kyrie Irving. On March 10, 2010, Barnes won the Morgan Wootten Player of the Year Award, which goes to the nation's top player.

Barnes completed nine advanced placement credits before graduating high school.

Barnes played for All Iowa Attack and Howard Pulley Panthers (MN) on the AAU Circuit, along with football prospect Seantrel Henderson.

College recruitment

Barnes considered offers from Duke, Iowa State, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and UCLA. Barnes unofficially visited Kansas twice, for Late Night in the Phog in October 2008 and a spring game against Tennessee. Barnes took official visits to North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, UCLA, and Oklahoma, but he did not take an official visit to Iowa State; since he lived only a mile from campus, he chose to unofficially visit instead. On November 13, 2009, Barnes Skyped coach Roy Williams of North Carolina to announce his decision to join the Tar Heels.

College career

Barnes had 21 points in his North Carolina debut in an exhibition game in the Bahamas against the Commonwealth Bank Giants. UNC won the game 130-87. Overall, Barnes averaged 22 points and 6.5 rebounds per game for UNC in the Bahamas. On November 1, 2010, Barnes was named a preseason All-American by the AP. Barnes had 14 points and 4 rebounds in his North Carolina debut vs. Lipscomb. He recorded his first career double double on December 11, 2010, scoring 19 points and snatching 10 rebounds in a 96-91 victory over Long Beach State University. Barnes developed a knack for coming up clutch in the later portion of his freshman season, like when he scored eight of his twelve points in the closing minutes to help the Tar Heels beat Virginia Tech. Barnes made the eventual game winning, three-point shot against Miami to give the Tar Heels the lead with 6.6 seconds remaining in the game. Just weeks later in the Tar Heels game at Florida State, Barnes nailed a three-point shot to give the Tar Heels the victory.

Barnes set a career high of 26 points came against Boston College on February 1, 2011. He surpassed this mark on March 12, 2011, in an ACC tournament game against Clemson, scoring 40 points while also grabbing 8 rebounds. Additionally, Barnes's 40 point performance set the record for points by a freshman in an ACC Tournament game. On April 18, 2011, Barnes announced that he would return to North Carolina for his sophomore season despite being projected as a lottery pick for the 2011 NBA draft.

Barnes was the ninth UNC Tar Heel to earn ACC Rookie of Year recognition and the fourth to do so under Coach Roy Williams. Barnes scored the most points as a freshman in the ACC tournament since Phil Ford scored 78 points in 1975. In the NCAA tournament, he scored 84 points, the most points of any UNC freshman in history.

2012–13 season: Rookie season

On March 29, 2012, Barnes announced that he was entering the 2012 NBA draft along with Tyler Zeller, Kendall Marshall, and John Henson. He worked out with four teams: Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Bobcats, Washington Wizards, and Toronto Raptors. He was selected 7th overall by the Golden State Warriors.

Warriors coach Mark Jackson said that Harrison Barnes is able to defend all five positions on the floor. In game four of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs on May 12, Barnes scored 26 points and added 10 rebounds. On May 14, the NBA named Barnes to the 2012–13 All-Rookie first team. Barnes also placed sixth in NBA Rookie of the Year voting, in a tie with Chris Copeland (8 points total).

2013–14 season: Sixth Man

With the arrival of Andre Iguodala, Barnes became a reserve player. Barnes again participated in BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge. He was chosen as a starter for Team Hill. Barnes finished the game with 16 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in 23 minutes in the team's win. On April 16, 2014, Barnes scored a career-high 30 points against the Denver Nuggets in the final regular season game for the Warriors. The Warriors finished the regular season with a 51-31 record, going into the playoffs as the sixth seed in the West, but went on to lose to the Los Angeles Clippers 4-3 in the first round.

2014–15 season: Championship season

Under new head coach Steve Kerr, Barnes moved back into the starting lineup and had an immediate impact. On March 18, 2015, he scored a season-high 25 points in a 114-95 win over the Atlanta Hawks. On April 2, he hit a running shot in the lane with less than a second remaining, lifting the Warriors to a 107-106 win over the Phoenix Suns.

In the 2015 NBA Playoffs, Barnes had a quiet breakout performance in the Warriors' series against the Memphis Grizzlies. He averaged 12.8 points per game, while shooting 54.4% from the field, a performance lauded by many basketball insiders due to the reputation of the Grizzlies' defense. In Games 4, 5, and 6, Barnes made several key plays in clutch situations. When the Warriors were losing by double digits in the first quarter of Game 5, Barnes got the comeback started with several key shots, which turned into a rout once teammate Stephen Curry was able to shoulder much of the load. On May 27, in the Warriors' Western Conference Finals clinching Game 5 win, Barnes scored 24 points to help lead his team to the NBA Finals for the first time in 40 years. Barnes won his first NBA championship with the Warriors after they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2015 NBA Finals in six games.

2015–16 season: NBA record for wins

Barnes helped the Warriors' go 17–0 to start the season before a sprained left ankle ruled him out for 16 straight games. He returned to action on January 4 against the Charlotte Hornets, scoring eight points off the bench in a 111–101 win. On April 7, Barnes scored 21 points against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring in double figures for a ninth straight game, a career high. The win made the Warriors the second team in NBA history to win 70 games in a season. The Warriors went on to win an NBA record 73 games, eclipsing the 72–10 record set by the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls.

Through the first two rounds of the playoffs, Barnes shot just 36% from the field. In the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Barnes shot 48% from the field while averaging 8.7 points per game to help the Warriors defeat the Thunder in seven games after overcoming a 3–1 deficit to advance to the 2016 NBA Finals. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Barnes had a 13-point performance to help the Warriors win 104–89. Despite the Warriors going up 3–1 in the series following a Game 4 win, they went on to lose the series in seven games to become the first team in NBA history to lose the championship series after being up 3–1. Barnes only shot 16% in the last three games.

Dallas Mavericks (2016–present)

On July 9, 2016, Barnes signed a four-year, $94 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks. He made his debut for the Mavericks in their season opener on October 26, recording 19 points and nine rebounds in a 130–121 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers. Two days later, he scored a career-high 31 points in a 106–98 loss to the Houston Rockets. He bested that mark on November 6, scoring 34 points in an 86–75 overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks. On January 30, 2017, in a 104–97 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Barnes led Dallas with 24 points and a season-high 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. On February 9, 2017, he scored 31 points in a 112–105 overtime win over the Utah Jazz, with eight of his points coming in overtime.

National team career

In June 2016, Barnes was named in the United States national team for the 2016 Summer Olympics. He helped Team USA win the gold medal in Rio, and in eight games, he averaged 4.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

High school

College

Personal life

Barnes is a Christian. He is also a teetotaler; he had his first sip of alcohol after winning the 2015 NBA Finals. On Saturday, July 29th, 2017 at Rosecliff in Newport, Rhode Island, he married Brittany Johnson.