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Really, how often do you remember Rowan Junior?
Mayor Zohran Mamdani did. Speaking at the Knicks’ championship ceremony at City Hall on June 18, he made sure RJ Barrett’s name was included among those who helped build the title team:
“This championship belongs to them too, because championships aren’t just built in one season. It belongs to Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Donte DiVincenzo, Julius Randle, and also to a coach who also laid the groundwork, Tom Thibodeau.”
Still, Barrett has become strangely easy to overlook when we talk about the era that began with Thibodeau, Julius Randle, and the 2020–21 “We Here” Knicks. On this date, September 1, 2022, RJ signed an extension that appeared to establish him as part of the long-term core; 16 months later, he became the central piece of the trade that brought OG Anunoby to New York.
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Rowan Alexander “RJ” Barrett Jr. arrived with bona fide basketball bloodlines. His father, Rowan Barrett Sr., starred at St. John’s, played professionally overseas, captained Canada at the 2000 Olympics, and later became general manager of Canada Basketball. His mother, Kesha, was a nationally ranked sprinter and long jumper at St. John’s. Steve Nash, one of the greatest Canadian basketball players ever, is RJ’s godfather. With all that preceding him, clearly young RJ was destined to be a professional bowler.
Born in Toronto in 2000, Barrett starred at St. Marcellinus before transferring to Montverde Academy in Florida. By the end of his high school career, he was the consensus No. 1 recruit in the class of 2018, with Naismith Prep Player of the Year and Gatorade National Player of the Year honors in his trophy case.
Barrett entered Duke as the projected top pick in the 2019 draft, but his roommate Zion Williamson quickly became the main attraction in Durham. The two became close friends, referred to each other as brothers, and made history as the first freshman teammates to each average more than 20 points. Williamson’s gravitational pull (literal and figurative) pushed Barrett into the background somewhat, even as RJ set ACC freshman scoring records and earned consensus…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mysterious-erasure-rj-barrett-122438761.html
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Publish date : 2026-09-01 12:24:00
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