University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: The Champs Are Here
September 28, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
By Adam Lucas
Harrison Barnes and James Michael McAdoo are accustomed to older players returning to mingle with the current Tar Heels.
They're just not used to being the older players themselves.
Barnes and McAdoo were back in Chapel Hill this weekend, visiting the Smith Center basketball offices and chatting with former teammates. They also brought a friend: the Larry O'Brien trophy, given to the winner of the NBA Finals. Barnes and McAdoo each earned a piece of that trophy through their play for this year's world champion, the Golden State Warriors.
“When I was talking to the current guys, I was thinking about how I watched Isaiah Hicks play in high school games,” Barnes said. “I was here when Marcus (Paige) and Brice (Johnson) came on their recruiting visits.”
This led Barnes to one inevitable conclusion: “I'm getting old, man.”
Not too old to enjoy being back in Chapel Hill for a brief respite before Warriors training camp opens Tuesday in Oakland. Both players were honored at the end of the first quarter of Saturday's football win over Delaware in Kenan Stadium. “It's been a crazy summer,” Barnes said. “I'll be glad to be able to focus on basketball.”
My bad, Larry. That was close. http://t.co/wTA6g6AGyq
— Harrison Barnes (@hbarnes) September 26, 2015
Of course, what Barnes left unsaid is that his name has been associated with one of the biggest non-basketball issues of the offseason for Golden State. After changing agents, the fourth-year pro is negotiating a possible lucrative contract extension.
"There's a lot going on,” Barnes acknowledged with that familiar all-knowing smile. That includes his travels with the Larry O'Brien trophy. The Warriors dispatched team employee Matt De Nesnera with Barnes and McAdoo to Chapel Hill. De Nesnera's role was to make sure the trophy made it safely back to the west coast. As “Larry,” as the trophy is most often called, has journeyed around the country this summer, De Nesnera has established a few rules: Carry it on rather than check it on airplanes. Try to get early boarding (most airlines are sympathetic). Wear gloves when handling it. Give it a quick shine before extensive photo opportunities.
Like most observers, the current Tar Heels were largely in awe when they met Larry on Saturday morning. A few, perhaps due to superstition, did not want their photo taken with the gold-plated trophy. Others eagerly snuggled up to it.
McAdoo still looks a little amazed that he was part of the run that earned the trophy. Over a million people attended the Warriors' celebration parade. “I'm really spoiled,” he says. “Including Carolina, all I've known is success.”
He's hoping the 2015-16 season will be just as productive but perhaps a little less eventful than his initial professional season. He split time between the NBDL and NBA last year, balancing his first year of married life with his first year as a professional basketball player. He won championships with both teams, capturing the D-League crown with the Santa Cruz Warriors and then winning another title less than two months later with Golden State.
McAdoo played in 15 regular season games and grabbed a rebound in game four of the NBA Finals. His first year in the pros also included some unexpected duties. As a rookie, McAdoo was responsible for taking care of the Warrior veterans. That meant picking up snacks for them on the road, and making sure they had a constant supply of team favorite Jamba Juice. The role did have a reward, however: veteran Andre Iguodala, who will make $11.7 million this season, eventually gave McAdoo his Jeep.
No matter where his basketball travels took him this year, McAdoo found one constant.
“No matter where you go, everybody knows you as a Carolina guy,” he said. “It's hard to go anywhere and not see a Carolina guy either on the roster or on the coaching staff. And even when you don't, the other guys all know you as a Carolina guy.”
That fulfills a promise that was made to McAdoo during his recruitment.
"Carolina told me when I was being recruited that I would always be part of the Carolina basketball family,” McAdoo said. “I've always loved Carolina, and I'm always going to be a North Carolina guy. I feel very blessed to be part of a family that is bigger than myself.”
