I can't imagine wishing any of the former Ws ill. But I don't much think about Barnes anymore and feel somewhat about him the way I do about Durant -- grateful for his time with Golden State but not in the same category as the core guys (Curry, Thompson, Green, Iguodala, Livingston). Any time a guy leaves of his own volition and rejects an offer from the Warriors, I feel a little different about them. Barnes could have been a part of this team if he wanted to be. Instead, he took buckets of cash from Cuban. Can't say I blame him for that -- good on him for making that money -- but I do end up feeling differently about him than someone like Bogut or Iguodala. Those guys also left the team, but they had no say in that, so in my imagination, they really could have been Ws for life if the team would have cooperated. Not so with Barnes or Durant, for whom the team did their best, only to be rejected.
I can't imagine wishing any of the former Ws ill. But I don't much think about Barnes anymore and feel somewhat about him the way I do about Durant -- grateful for his time with Golden State but not in the same category as the core guys (Curry, Thompson, Green, Iguodala, Livingston). Any time a guy leaves of his own volition and rejects an offer from the Warriors, I feel a little different about them. Barnes could have been a part of this team if he wanted to be. Instead, he took buckets of cash from Cuban. Can't say I blame him for that -- good on him for making that money -- but I do end up feeling differently about him than someone like Bogut or Iguodala. Those guys also left the team, but they had no say in that, so in my imagination, they really could have been Ws for life if the team would have cooperated. Not so with Barnes or Durant, for whom the team did their best, only to be rejected.