Berrett draws high praise from LeBron
SALT LAKE CITY — A few years back, LeBron James knew there could be a night
like this, a night when RJ Barrett could nearly steal an NBA game from him.
Barrett’s heroics weren’t enough to repel the Lakers on Saturday at the newly named Crypto.com Arena, but he took another step toward
stardom in racking up a career-high 36 points and sending the game to overtime with a 3-point bucket with eight seconds to go.
The Knicks eventually fell to James and the Lakers, 122-115, with The King recording a triple-double after his return from a five-game absence due to a knee injury.
James shared an anecdote from when Barrett attended high school in the Toronto area and James was vacationing in Canada during the offseason.
“I’ve been knowing RJ for quite a while now,” James said late Saturday night. “I was in Toronto during the summertime, I think he was a high school junior, and there was a call to my agent, Rich [Paul] that there was a kid in Toronto that was possibly next [one].
“And it was offseason. I was in Toronto, just having a good time in Toronto. But I was going to the gym to get some work in and they called Rich and asked, ‘Can he join?’ And I was like, absolutely.
“So, I’ve been knowing him quite a while. I followed him throughout those last few years of high school and obviously off to Duke and now as a Knick.”
Barrett’s father, Rowan, a former St. John’s standout and GM of Team Canada, and his AAU coach Dwayne Washington made the call to Paul, according to the super-agent.
Since January, Barrett has been by far the Knicks’ best player in his third season after being the No. 3-overall pick in 2019.
On Saturday, Barrett didn’t just rack up 17 points in the first quarter, he did so while guarding James and the Knicks built a 21-point lead in the first half.
“He’s young, so you’re gonna have your bumps and bruises throughout the course of your career,” James said. “When you’re young, you’re figuring out the game. You’re figuring out the speed. You’re figuring out the tempo and things of that nature. But I think he’s handled it extremely well, especially being — it’s a different light and a different heat when you play for the Knicks — and I think he’s handled it extremely well.”
After the final buzzer, James shook Barrett’s hand and said something to him.
“When he started the game off — I think he had 17 in the first quarter if I’m not mistaken,” James said. “He hit big-time shots down the stretch. Obviously, the 3 to tie it at 111; the full-court dunk in transition. He just hit key shot after key shot tonight.”
Barrett said after the game he requested the matchup with James from the Knicks assistant coach who had the Lakers as his scouting game.
“Yeah, I did. I was texting everybody trying to figure out [the assistant] who had the scout so I could tell him I wanted to guard him,” said Barrett, who was 4 of 10 from 3-point range.
James got to 29 points but it was still impressive defense
for a 21-year-old who has always played beyond his years.
“[He did] some good [against James],” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The thing you like about RJ is his mindset. He’s not an overly emotional guy. There’s a lot of times you can defend LeBron great and he still has the ability to raise up and make the shot. A guy like that, you want to make him work . ... RJ is growing quite a bit.”
In the new year, especially. Since Jan. 1, Barrett has logged All-Star caliber numbers in 17 games: 22.7 points per game on 39.6 percent from 3 and 44 percent overall. He’s still not shooting his free throws well (69 percent) and his overall percentage is 41.6 for the season.
Still, he has ice in his veins as his game-tying 3 showed. Barrett recalled last year in Los Angeles when he shot a 35-foot air-balled that would have won it.
“I shot the ball nowhere near the basket,’’ Barrett said. “To make that shot this year I was happy with that.”