Scottie Barnes hasn't even played a game yet for the Toronto Raptors, and yet he's already endeared himself to the fan base. He's a hard face to miss, given that he's always beaming and ready to light up the room with his seemingly endless amount of energy.
That demeanor of his applies both on and off the basketball court as well. And apparently, the Raptors rookie has been that way his entire playing career. Even dating back to high school when he was playing alongside Golden State Warriors rookie Moses Moody, he was giving people chills.
Via Eric Koreen of The Athletic:
“On the court, you just think he’s crazy,” Moody said of the Raptors rookie. “My first time really playing against him, he did a close out, he was on the other team, I’m shooting a 3. 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?’”
He also makes sure to channel his boundless enthusiasm into trying to play winning basketball. Raptors president Masai Ujiri revealed how this came through in Barnes' interviews. Interestingly enough, he also uses the word “crazy”.
“It’s crazy when you interview a guy like that and he mentions ‘winning’ or ‘win’ 34 times in one interview,” Ujiri said. “All he talks about is winning. This is what we wanted to bring.”
The Toronto Raptors are ready to embrace Scottie Barnes as a foundational piece. Now it's time for him to prove he's exactly that on the court.
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