Sports history is full of athletes who fail to fulfill their potential, those blessed with incredible talent who succumb to injuries, demons, or vague factors that don't allow for such romanticized conclusions. In basketball, few have ever loomed as large as Marvin "Bad News" Barnes, the second overall pick in the 1974 NBA Draft behind Bill Walton.
Barnes entered professional basketball with an already long history of off-court problems that started even before he starred at Providence College, opted to forgo playing for the Philadelphia 76ers to join the ABA's Spirit of St. Louis, and soon engaged in even more bad behavior, including drug use, drug dealing, and occasional unexplained jaunts away from the team. Barnes eventually played four seasons in the NBA, but he never came close to fulfilling his Hall of Fame potential and is remembered primarily for the off-court incidents that have been documented in Terry Pluto's essential ABA history "Loose Balls" and the ESPN documentary "Free Spirits."
On Tuesday, Barnes died at the age of 62 on Tuesday. Not surprisingly, the news from Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal focuses largely on his tumultuous personal life:
Barnes struggled with substance abuse in what was a shortened professional career and once his basketball days ended. Stacom said he saw Barnes about 10 days ago at a local restaurant and knew his friend was not feeling well.
“He struggled with his demons but he was a great friend,” Stacom said. “He was a great talent and a great teammate but most of all he was our friend.” [...]
Barnes was a honorable mention All-America as a junior but as a senior he established himself as one of the elite players in the country while averaging 22 points and 18.7 rebounds a game. PC rolled to a 28-4 season with Barnes and Stacom as seniors and was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by David Thompson and North Carolina State on the Wolfpack’s home floor in Raleigh.
Barnes was the second overall pick of the 1974 NBA draft, behind only UCLA’s Bill Walton. But Barnes eschewed the NBA for the rival American Basketball Association and the Spirits of St. Louis. Barnes dominated in the ABA, averaging double figures in scoring (24.0 ppg) and rebounding (15.6 rpg). But just a month into the season, Barnes suddenly left the team. His location was a mystery, but after a few days the Spirits discovered that Barnes was in Dayton, Ohio at a pool tournament.
He returned to the team and complained about his contract but the team’s owners, Ozzie and Daniel Silna, smoothed things over and became lifelong benefactors of Barnes.
Barnes's second season with St. Louis was impressive, as well, but his career quickly went south. After his habit, Barnes attempted to turn his life around and attempted to help at-risk youth in Providence. Yet his life was still not without controversy — Barnes was arrested in 2012 for soliciting an underage girl for sex. There is no question that Marvin Barnes struggled to live on an even keel.
As with most cautionary tales, his worst moments came to define his life. Yet, from the perspective of a basketball fan, it would be wrong to allow those troubles to overwhelm everything that made him such a fascinating figure on the court in the first place. Those who witnessed Barnes at his peak remember a player who could have become one of the 50 greatest players in the history of the sport, a beast on the block with elite athleticism and skill. This video of one impressive performance for the Spirits serves as an effective sample:
Barnes was brash, insanely talented, and even capable of writing poems before big games. He cannot simply be remembered for what kept him from achieving more, because what he did accomplish meant a great deal to many people.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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