Neither his parents, Scott and Kathalyn, nor his partner and the mother of his daughter, Alyssa. Above them, as Scottie Barnes’s number-one fan and admirer, is his own coach: Darko Rajaković.
The Toronto Raptors coach –since 2023– granted a recent interview in his homeland of Serbia, during which he drew a parallel between the franchise’s star and the greatest player of all time.
“I think there is no success for a coach without his players,” Rajakovic begins. “You look at all our great coaches, who are fantastic… All of them became great coaches by taking care of their players, and I think that happens at all levels. There is no Phil Jackson without Michael Jordan. And my Michael Jordan is Scottie Barnes.”
We all understand that what happened with Jordan is not equivalence but extrapolation and analogy. Both started as Rookie of the Year of their draft class; from there, their respective growth curves have had different slopes.
And with all that, few players can boast of being a franchise player. Barnes, at 25, has been the Raptors’ franchise player for at least three years, without needing to be the primary offensive weapon for it. Only in the first round of these recent playoffs (and with Ingram hurt) did he break out on offense alongside Barrett, shining in all facets of the game and averaging 24.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.7 blocks in 39 minutes against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And we can state, without fear of being wrong, that the two-time All-Star (sometimes debated whether it’s enough to lead a team and turn it into a contender) has not yet reached his ceiling.
For sure, without the unwavering support of his coach, it certainly isn’t going to be. In 2024 Rajakovic warned what was going to happen even before it happened: “Scottie Barnes is going to be All-Star. He’s going to be the face of this league.” The first has already been fulfilled.
The second, if we aim to see him as the cover star of a future 2K, probably not; but if we talk about becoming one of the most complete stars in the circuit, he is on the right track: 18.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.5 blocks and 33.5 minutes in 80 games, the last regular season.
Two-way lineage… like Kawhi
Barnes finished the season as the only NBA player who accumulated at least 100 steals and 100 blocks. A performance that allowed him to finish fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting and to make one of the league’s best All-Defensive Teams for the first time.
Drafted fourth in the 2021 Draft, his challenge now is to return the Canadians to those times when they were a regular candidate for the Conference Finals, led by Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. For now, he has not managed to lead them beyond the first round of the playoffs. But thanks to what happened in this summer’s market, things may be about to change all at once.
A window of opportunity opens that no one saw coming. Kawhi Leonard –if the NBA does not block the move– is back, and alongside the cyborg, Barnes could form a formidable duo, becoming an immediate contender for the throne of the East.
But regardless of which stars the Raptors bring into their roster, Rajakovic has it clear. Scottie is and will be his guy.
“He’s a fantastic person. A young man with a huge heart. A hard worker. He’s one of those very rare players in the NBA: a franchise player whose priority is defense. And that makes my job much easier.”
