I ****ing hate Harrison Barnes. Sorry for this rant but the world needs to know.

[avb30]

I hate Harrison Barnes. He's overrated and there's this sense around the league (maybe not amongst the informed fans) that he's a borderline superstar or something. He acts somewhat entitled and carries himself like he's a superstar in the league and while he's getting paid like a superstar, he can't be uttered in the same breath as anyone on the USMNT.

He plays solid defense, makes the open 3 (which anyone playing on the Warriors would have plenty of) and doesn't do anything boneheaded on the court. You kind of want him to do something a little crazy like a supremely talented bonehead like Micheal Beasley would do just to show a glimpse of what he's capable of.

He really benefits from playing on a high profile team such as the Warriors, which is kind of like the Derek Fisher and Robert Horry effect. They're at least clutch in the big moments and don't act like they're worth $50 million a year but I digress. I realize HB is only 24 but at the same time, he hasn't shown ANY glimpses of being able to take over a game offensively even in stretches but he actually shrinks in the biggest moments - in the finals and when Curry went down in the second round, he couldn't capitalize on the bigger role.

People don't realize how bad he actually was in the finals. He averaged 9 pts on 10(!) shot attempts and 4 rebounds in 32 minutes per game and shot 35% from the field. Good luck with that piece of crap Rick Carlisle.

There's also this other narrative no one's talking about. People look at how Pop and his assistants in SA molded Kawhi into this legitimate 2 way superstar who shoots like Ray Allen and defends like Scottie. Throw in a couple MJ post ups and a 7.5 foot winspan and you have a creature that's never been seen before. Rick Carlisle and Mark Cuban will continue to chase the Spurs in the standings and in philosophy. They're hoping that HB is their blank slate and can mold him into some sort of Kawhi-like player but that'll never happen.

This article shows I'm not alone in my hatred: https://thecauldron.si.com/is-harrison-barnes-the-worst-pro-basketball-olympian-of-all-time-624d84645165#.3ttwceh53

"Barnes is a pretty mediocre NBA player. He’s the answer to a future trivia question, the guy you already forgot from this year’s awesome Warriors team. Barnes scored 11.7 points per game, a career high, with average percentages on mostly wide-open shots. He’s peaked at 6.7 win shares, a 12 PER, and a 0.9 VORP. He’s the definition of an NBA replacement player — on his best day."

This brings me to my last point: HOW THE **** was he a no-brainer in being selected to the USMNT. Yea, he wasn't the first choice after LBJ and Kawhi and others declined but still?! This was another bargaining chip for HB in free agency: "Look, I play for team USA! Give me a hundred million dollar contract!"

This is simple economics with a bunch of desperate teams and only a limited number of free agents with a massive spike in the salary cap and you have a recipe for perhaps the worst player to ever earn a near 9-figure contract in the history of the NBA. He acts or at least is perceived as if he's in the class of Kyrie, Paul George, Melo and all those guys. I'm happy Coach K treated him like a piece of garbage that would only come in the game with a 30 point lead, even if HB could start on any other team the rest of the world could put out on the floor.

These are all the players I would have liked to see make the USMNT over HB:

Robert Covington - not a sexy name but very underrated
Khris Middleton
Danny Green
Rudy Gay
Tobias Harris
Marcus Morris
Chandler Parsons - injured/rehab?
KAT - commited to DR but could convince him to play for US like Kyrie was by Coach K
Gordon Hayward - declined?

Ok I feel better now.

[Ponchos]

Harrison Barnes made sweet love to OP's gf while he watched from the corner unable to do anything except seethe with rage.