Jim "Bad News" Barnes facts for kids
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
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| Born | April 13, 1941 Tuckerman, Arkansas |
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| Nationality | American | |||||||||||||
| Died | September 14, 2002 (aged 61) Silver Spring, Maryland |
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| High school | Stillwater (Stillwater, Oklahoma) | |||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | |||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) | |||||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||||
| College |
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| NBA Draft | 1964 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall | |||||||||||||
| Selected by the New York Knicks | ||||||||||||||
| Pro career | 1964–1970 | |||||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||||
| 1964–1965 | New York Knicks | |||||||||||||
| 1965–1966 | Baltimore Bullets | |||||||||||||
| 1966–1968 | Los Angeles Lakers | |||||||||||||
| 1968 | Chicago Bulls | |||||||||||||
| 1968–1970 | Boston Celtics | |||||||||||||
| 1970 | Baltimore Bullets | |||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||
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| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||
| Points | 3,997 (8.8 ppg) | |||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 2,939 (6.5 rpg) | |||||||||||||
| Assists | 377 (0.8 apg) | |||||||||||||
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Velvet James Barnes (April 13, 1941 – September 14, 2002) was a famous American basketball player. He was also known as Jim "Bad News" Barnes. He won an Olympic Gold Medal and was the very first player picked in the 1964 NBA draft. He played college basketball at Texas Western College.
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Jim Barnes' Early Life
Jim Barnes grew up in Tuckerman, Arkansas. As a child, he worked picking and chopping cotton. His family was very poor, so he played basketball wearing socks because they couldn't afford shoes. By age 13, Barnes was already 6 feet 6 inches tall! People said his grandfather was 7 feet tall.
Barnes first went to W.F. Branch High School in Newport, Arkansas. They promised to give him basketball shoes. His team finished third in the 1957 State Black Basketball Championships. Later, he moved to Poplar Bluff High School in Missouri but couldn't play because of rules about where he lived. He went back to Branch High, where he once scored 68 points and grabbed 38 rebounds in a game, still playing in socks because his feet were size 17!
His family then moved, and he joined Stillwater High School in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He became even more famous when Stillwater beat a strong team from Pampa, Texas, 94-40. However, Barnes faced some rules issues and was not allowed to play for a while. His team had to give up 22 wins. After his suspension, he returned to the team. He led them to 10 wins in a row and helped them win the state championship. He was the first black player to be named Oklahoma High School Player of the Year.
College Basketball Career
Barnes was a 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) forward/center. He started his college basketball journey at Cameron College in Lawton, Oklahoma. At the time, Cameron was a junior college. Barnes chose Cameron because he felt it was a better academic fit for him. In his first year (1960–1961), he scored 28.8 points per game. In his second year, he averaged 30.6 points per game. He was also named an NJCAA All-American in his sophomore year (1961–1962).
After Cameron, Barnes went to Texas Western College (now called University of Texas at El Paso). He played for the famous Coach Don Haskins. Barnes said that Coach Haskins and future Hall of Fame Coach Nolan Richardson convinced him to join the team because they were honest. Barnes also brought his good friend, Ulysses Kendall, from Cameron with him to Texas Western.
In the 1962–63 season, Barnes averaged 18.9 points and 16.5 rebounds per game for the Texas Western Miners. This is called a double-double. He shot 50.3% from the field. The team finished with 19 wins and 7 losses. They made it to the 1963 NCAA University Division basketball tournament, which was their first time in the NCAA tournament.
In the 1963–64 season, Barnes was even better, averaging 29.1 points and 19.2 rebounds per game. A highlight of his season was scoring 51 points and getting 36 rebounds in one game! The Miners finished with 25 wins and 3 losses. They went to the 1964 NCAA University Division basketball tournament. They won their first game against Texas A&M, with Barnes scoring 42 points and grabbing 19 rebounds. However, they lost to Kansas State in the next game, and Barnes fouled out.
Coach Haskins later said that if Barnes hadn't fouled out against Kansas State, the team might have won the championship. Barnes still holds records at UTEP for most points, rebounds, and field goals made in a single game. He also has the most career double-doubles in Miners history.
Playing in the NBA
Jim Barnes was the very first player chosen in the 1964 NBA draft by the New York Knicks.
In his first year (1964–1965) with the Knicks, Barnes played great. He averaged 15.5 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Because of his strong performance, he was named to the 1965 NBA All-Rookie Team. In November 1965, he was traded to the Baltimore Bullets.
Barnes was a very good player early in his career, often getting a double-double (meaning he had double-digit points and rebounds in a game). However, many knee and Achilles injuries slowed him down and eventually ended his career. After his first two seasons, he played fewer minutes due to injuries but was still a valuable player coming off the bench.
Barnes won an NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics in the 1968–1969 season. He was a backup player for the legendary Bill Russell. Even though he was hurt, he was part of the championship team. His NBA career ended in 1971.
Overall, Jim Barnes played in 454 games over seven seasons (1964–1971) in the NBA. He played for the Knicks, Baltimore Bullets, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, and Boston Celtics. He scored a total of 3,997 points, averaging 8.8 points per game.
Playing for Team USA
Barnes was chosen to be on the 1964 United States men's Olympic basketball team. This team, coached by Henry Iba, won the Gold Medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games. They beat the USSR team 73-59 in the final game.
Barnes remembered his Olympic experience, saying that Coach Iba didn't want him practicing too much with the team because he was a very strong player and might accidentally hurt someone. Barnes was the best shooter on the Olympic team, making 53% of his shots. He averaged 8.5 points in the nine games. He shared a room with Bill Bradley and had future coaches Walt Hazzard and Larry Brown as teammates.
Life After Basketball
After his basketball career, Jim Barnes lived in the Baltimore, Maryland area. He became a board member of "Kids in Trouble Inc.," an organization in Washington D.C. He helped with an annual celebrity tennis event, gave advice to students, worked to stop youth violence, and coached a local church basketball team as a volunteer. He even advised famous football player LaMont Jordan to focus on his studies.
Barnes also created his own barbecue sauce called "Bad News Barbecue Sauce." It was sold in the Washington D.C. area for 24 years and sold 3 million cases! He wanted to make a sauce for people who couldn't eat tomatoes.
Rapper Blu mentioned Jim Barnes as his cousin in his song "Bad News Barnes."
Jim Barnes passed away on September 14, 2002, at age 61, due to heart problems. He was survived by his wife, Gerri, and their three daughters.
Awards and Special Recognitions
- In 1996, Barnes was chosen to carry the Olympic Torch in Little Rock, Arkansas on Memorial Day. He said he couldn't carry it the whole mile, so he gave it to a 14-year-old girl named Sarah to finish.
- UTEP, his college, retired his jersey number 45. This means no other player at UTEP can wear that number. Only a few other famous UTEP players have their numbers retired.
- Barnes was added to the UTEP Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
- In 2009, he was inducted into the Cameron College Athletics Hall of Fame.
- In 2014, Barnes was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
See also
In Spanish: Jim Barnes para niños
- List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 30 or more rebounds in a game
