The Commercial Appeal

COURT-LY MANNERS?

Happy to join team with ‘my grind mentality’

- GEOFF CALKINS Editors note: Geoff wrote a follow-up column Thursday about Brittany Hall, the fan Barnes spoke about at his press conference.

New Grizzly Matt Barnes happy to join team with ‘my grind mentality’.

So about the trash can, the one Matt Barnes demolished as he left the FedExForum floor after a playoff game in 2013.

“I remember it,” said Barnes. “There was a woman or a younger girl who said something about it. It was a close game and I was mad that we lost and I kicked a can. I’m looking forward to inviting that young lady back to the first game and show her I’m not the person she thought I was back then.” Awwwwww, what a nice gesture, eh? Except here’s the thing. Barnes is exactly the person he seemed to be back then. But the next time you see him, he’ll be that person in a Grizzlies uniform. And you will love him for it.

Barnes — acquired by Memphis in a draft-day deal for Janis Timma — was introduced as the latest member of the Grizzlies July 28 at a Fed-ExForum press conference. Not since the heyday of Memphis wrestling has a heel turned hero with quite such dispatch.

This was a man who played for the hated Los Angeles Clippers. This was a man who destroyed FedExForum property with his foot.

“I realize I’m one of those guys that if I’m not with you, you hate me,” said Barnes. “But if I’m with you, you understand who I am and what I’m about and love me. I’m looking forward to winning this crowd and winning this city over and helping to bring a championsh­ip here.”

Well, a championsh­ip would do it, certainly. But the press conference was a fine start. As Griz GM Chris Wallace put it, “If there’s any player who was designed to be a Grizzly, it’s Matt Barnes.”

Like the Grizzlies, Barnes is all about defense and toughness. Like the Grizzlies, Barnes is a little nuts.

In a six-month period this past season, Barnes was fined $25,000 for kicking a water bottle and cursing a Wizards fan, fined $25,000 for cursing a Suns fan and $50,000 for cursing James Harden’s mother.

Just last month, Barnes said on ESPN that he and Oklahoma City forward Serge Ibaka would “fight right now.”

Question: Is there any better way to endear yourself to Memphis basketball fans than suggesting you’d like to throw down with another player? And does that kind of thing happen in any other town?

Small wonder Barnes was happy when he found out he’d been shipped to Memphis. As he put it, “When I kind of took a deep breath, I thought, ‘This is a whole — not just team, but city — with my ideal, my grind mentality.’ I’ve never been on a team where everybody has the same mindset I do.”

Barnes seemed particular­ly thrilled to be playing alongside Tony Allen, whom he considers a kindred spirit. As he put it, “It’s going to be an honor playing next to that dude.”

None of which means Barnes is the missing piece to a championsh­ip or any such thing.

He’s a 35-year-old wing player who is making his 10th NBA stop. But at a time when more NBA teams are opting for flowing, beautiful basketball, the Grizzlies seem content to beat the snot out of you.

Indeed, Joerger seemed to revel in it, as he delivered a preview of the season’s theme. “Going into this season, we’re going to try to be nasty,” he said. “Nasty is a word that is going to come up a lot as we go into training camp. We’re going to be nasty. You come into the paint and things are not going to be happy for you.” Like they ever were? So here’s to another season of glorious mayhem. Here’s to the league’s toughest team getting tougher still. Or, as Barnes put it, when asked about the challenge ahead: “I’m just glad that I’ve got a whole team that thinks the way I do.”

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 ?? PHOTOS BY NIKKI BOERTMAN/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL ?? New Grizzly Matt Barnes seemed happy to be in Memphis as he was introduced on July 28. He played for the rival Los Angeles Clippers last year.
PHOTOS BY NIKKI BOERTMAN/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL New Grizzly Matt Barnes seemed happy to be in Memphis as he was introduced on July 28. He played for the rival Los Angeles Clippers last year.
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