What Gives Scottie Barnes His Edge? We Ask the Raptors Rookie

“What’s rare about Scottie Barnes is his IQ for the game, his length, his enthusiasm for the game. All of that stuff shines bright when you watch him play,” Durant said. “You can tell that he just wants to be there for his teammates and make winning basketball plays. I think a lot of young guys in the league have that competitive fire, but he has something a little extra as far as just seeing a game a little slower. And that’s rare. For a guy, how old is he? 19? 20? Sheesh.

“He knows how to play the right way and he’s only gonna get better.” 

Barnes is a big part of the reason the Raptors—who own the league’s 11th best defence—can be so challenging to play against despite being one of the youngest and least experienced teams in the league. Whether it’s a scrimmage in the summer or a meaningless preseason game or a regular season game on Sunday afternoon, Barnes brings an inspiring amount of energy and effort to the court, which has helped him endear himself to his Raptors’ teammates, who clearly enjoy playing with him. As for his opponents, you either match it or go home a loser. 

“On the court, you just think he’s crazy,” Golden State Warriors rookie Moses Moody told The Athletic. “My first time really playing against him, he did a close out, he was on the other team, I’m shooting a three. He had his hair going everywhere—that’s when he had his dreads and stuff. He’s coming out screaming. I missed the shot. It’s crazy. I was like, ‘What’s wrong with this dude?’”

Oftentimes, being so competitive can dominate the emotions of young players, making them want to do everything themselves instead of trusting the system and their teammates, or causing them to get too high or too low on themselves throughout a game or a season. But Barnes is different: he plays through it all and stays even-keeled because he understands what it takes to succeed in the greatest basketball league on earth. 

There was a moment during the Raptors’ 115-83 win over the rival Boston Celtics on October 22nd when Barnes hit a 20-foot pull-up jumper over Al Horford and immediately looked over to the Celtics bench, mouthing what appeared to be “shut up!” to the group of them. 

“They were just saying, ‘Back up. Make him shoot.’ And then I just hit one, put it up, ‘cause I’m not afraid to shoot, so if I’m wide open I’m gonna shoot it…. And I hit one, so I just said a little something,” Barnes says of the episode, noting that it’s rare for him to talk trash these days. 

“I don’t really talk so much trash no more. I’m just playing the game trying to win, because at this level, you can’t really take a possession off or get carried away. You just gotta really focus and lock in.”

For someone so young, Barnes displays a lot of maturity, and that is what has allowed him to be one of the most consistent Raptors so far this season, positively affecting the game every time he steps on the court. On top of toning down the trash talk to stay focused, he tries to stay off social media on game days in order to not get “big-headed” or distracted.

After he nearly missed a tip-in at the buzzer in a 102-101 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers recently, Barnes looked upset with himself. So, I asked him, how do you get over a loss like that?

“It wasn’t really tough. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it don’t. We can just learn from each and every game,” Barnes said with the wisdom of a 10-year veteran. “But the good thing about this game and this league is you still got another game. Tomorrow is the next game.

“Just make it up tomorrow.”