Dana Barros
Encyclopedia
Dana Bruce Barros is a retired American
professional
basketball
player from the NBA
. Before the NBA he played at Boston College, finishing as one of the school's all-time leading scorers.
The 5' 11" (1.80 m), 165 lb (75 kg) point guard
who attended Xaverian Brothers High School
in Westwood, Massachusetts
and later Boston College
, began his professional basketball
career in 1989 when he was taken in the NBA Draft
by the Seattle SuperSonics
with the 16th pick. Most of his time spent in Seattle was as a back-up to 6' 4" (1.93 m) point guard Gary Payton
who was considered to be a much more competent ball handler and defender than he, as Barros was deemed more usable at the shooting guard
position, although at his size, he could not seem to find his role in the Sonics' offensive flow.
Prior to the 1993-94 season
, the Sonics traded Barros to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Kendall Gill
. Two days later, Charlotte traded Barros, Sidney Green, and their 1993 draft
choice, Greg Graham
, to the Philadelphia 76ers
in a swap for veteran Hersey Hawkins.
In Philadelphia
, Barros received much more playing time (31 minutes per game) with the Sixers, who were at that time a lowly team in the East
, than when he was with the Western Conference
stalwart SuperSonics (18 minutes per game). This allowed him to improve on his scoring output the previous season with Seattle from 7.8 to 13.3 points per game.
His second season with the Sixers (1994-95) proved to be a breakout year, achieving career highs in minutes per game (40.5), field goal percentage (49.0%), three-point
percentage (46.4%), scoring average (20.6 points per contest), rebounding (3.3 per game) and assists (7.5) while playing all 82 regular season games. Highlights include a 50-point, 8-rebound performance against the Houston Rockets
in March 1995, and a 25-point, 10-rebound, 15-assist
triple-double effort against the Orlando Magic
a few weeks later. Barros was selected to play in the 1995 NBA All-Star Game
and at season's end was voted the league's Most Improved Player
. He also set an NBA record by making at least one three-pointer in 89 consecutive games from December 23, 1994 until January 10, 1996. He appeared four consecutive times at the AT&T Long Distance Shootout during the All-Star Weekend from 1992 to 1996 coming in second twice.
However, his stay in Philadelphia appeared to be just a short-term joyride, as his stellar production allowed him the freedom to explore newer opportunities when he became a free agent
at the end of the 1995-96 season
. He signed with his hometown Boston Celtics
, and although he never regained the same form he had with the Sixers, he carved out a niche in Boston, where he remained for five seasons in a slow but steady decline as a solid contributor as a role player alongside David Wesley
and Dee Brown and mentor to younger players such as Antoine Walker
and Paul Pierce
.
In the offseason of 2000, Barros was traded to the Dallas Mavericks
as part of a four-team deal that also involved the Utah Jazz
and Golden State Warriors
. By the time the 2000-01 season had commenced, the Mavs had shipped Barros to the Detroit Pistons
, where he played 89 games over two seasons, averaging 7.5 points per game until they waived him in 2002.
After that, he was out of the NBA for almost two years, before rejoining the Celtics towards the end of the 2003-04 regular season
first as an assistant coach and later as a player. He scored six points in one final game. He retired from the league with career averages of 10.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and a career three-point accuracy of 41.1%.
After retiring from basketball, Barros opened the Dana Barros Sports Complex, a sports and social club in Mansfield, Massachusetts
. However, the project proved more costly than Barros expected. He incurred massive debts, and he eventually left the business in 2006.
For two months in 2006, Barros worked as an assistant coach for the Northeastern University men's basketball team, a position from which he resigned in June 2006 to accept a role as the Director of Recreation for the city of Boston.
Barros is now with the media relations department for the Celtics.
Barros serves as a "basketball insider" for New England Sports Network
(NESN) and offers analysis and insight on the NBA on the show NESN Daily.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional
Professional sports
Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...
basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player from the NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
. Before the NBA he played at Boston College, finishing as one of the school's all-time leading scorers.
The 5' 11" (1.80 m), 165 lb (75 kg) point guard
Point guard
Point guard , also called the play maker or "the ball-handler", is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position – essentially, he is expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that...
who attended Xaverian Brothers High School
Xaverian Brothers High School
Xaverian Brothers High School , founded in 1963 by the Xaverian Brothers, is a private, Catholic secondary school for boys on a campus in Westwood, Massachusetts. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston....
in Westwood, Massachusetts
Westwood, Massachusetts
Westwood is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 14,618 at the 2010 census. In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Westwood 13th on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States. Boston Magazine listed Gay Street in Westwood on its...
and later Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
, began his professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
career in 1989 when he was taken in the NBA Draft
1989 NBA Draft
The 1989 NBA Draft took place on June 27, 1989 in New York City, New York, USA. It has been regarded as one of the worst drafts in NBA history, along with the 1986 NBA Draft and the 2000 NBA Draft. Though the draft produced talented players such as Shawn Kemp, Glen Rice, Sean Elliott, Nick...
by the Seattle SuperSonics
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
with the 16th pick. Most of his time spent in Seattle was as a back-up to 6' 4" (1.93 m) point guard Gary Payton
Gary Payton
Gary Dwayne Payton is a former American professional basketball point guard. He is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, and holds Seattle franchise records in points, assists, and steals...
who was considered to be a much more competent ball handler and defender than he, as Barros was deemed more usable at the shooting guard
Shooting guard
The shooting guard , also known as the two or off guard, is one of five traditional positions on a basketball team. Players of the position are often shorter, leaner, and quicker than forwards. A shooting guard's main objective is to score points for his team...
position, although at his size, he could not seem to find his role in the Sonics' offensive flow.
Prior to the 1993-94 season
1993-94 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets*Rookie of the Year: Chris Webber, Golden State Warriors*Defensive Player of the Year: Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets...
, the Sonics traded Barros to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Kendall Gill
Kendall Gill
Kendall Cedric Gill is a retired American professional basketball player, now a sports analyst for Comcast Sports Net and the Big Ten Network.-Early life:...
. Two days later, Charlotte traded Barros, Sidney Green, and their 1993 draft
1993 NBA Draft
The 1993 NBA Draft took place on June 30, 1993 in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The draft had some talented players at the top, but injuries and personal problems hurt many of them. Anfernee Hardaway, Allan Houston, and Jamal Mashburn all looked like possible Hall of Famers until their careers were cut...
choice, Greg Graham
Greg Graham
Gregory Lawrence Graham is a retired American professional basketball player....
, to the Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
in a swap for veteran Hersey Hawkins.
In Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, Barros received much more playing time (31 minutes per game) with the Sixers, who were at that time a lowly team in the East
Eastern Conference (NBA)
The Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association is made up of fifteen teams, organized in three divisions of five teams each.The three division winners and the non-division winner with the best record are seeded 1 through 4 for the playoffs in order of their records, with all...
, than when he was with the Western Conference
Western Conference (NBA)
Below is a list of current Western Conference NBA team rosters.-Western Conference:There are a total of 15 teams in the Western Conference. The current leading team of the Western conference are the Dallas Mavericks....
stalwart SuperSonics (18 minutes per game). This allowed him to improve on his scoring output the previous season with Seattle from 7.8 to 13.3 points per game.
His second season with the Sixers (1994-95) proved to be a breakout year, achieving career highs in minutes per game (40.5), field goal percentage (49.0%), three-point
Three-point field goal
A three-point field goal is a field goal in a basketball game, made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc radiating from the basket...
percentage (46.4%), scoring average (20.6 points per contest), rebounding (3.3 per game) and assists (7.5) while playing all 82 regular season games. Highlights include a 50-point, 8-rebound performance against the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
in March 1995, and a 25-point, 10-rebound, 15-assist
Assist (basketball)
In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads to a score by field goal, meaning that he or she was "assisting" in the basket. There is some judgment involved in deciding whether a passer should be credited with an assist...
triple-double effort against the Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
a few weeks later. Barros was selected to play in the 1995 NBA All-Star Game
National Basketball Association All-Star Game
The National Basketball Association staged its first All-Star Game in the Boston Garden on March 2, 1951. From that year on, the game has matched the best players in the Eastern Conference with the best players in the Western Conference....
and at season's end was voted the league's Most Improved Player
NBA Most Improved Player Award
The National Basketball Association's Most Improved Player Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1985–86 NBA season, to the most improved player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters throughout the United States and Canada,...
. He also set an NBA record by making at least one three-pointer in 89 consecutive games from December 23, 1994 until January 10, 1996. He appeared four consecutive times at the AT&T Long Distance Shootout during the All-Star Weekend from 1992 to 1996 coming in second twice.
However, his stay in Philadelphia appeared to be just a short-term joyride, as his stellar production allowed him the freedom to explore newer opportunities when he became a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
at the end of the 1995-96 season
1995-96 NBA season
The 1995–96 NBA season was the 50th season of the National Basketball Association , although the league didn't celebrate this anniversary until the following season...
. He signed with his hometown Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
, and although he never regained the same form he had with the Sixers, he carved out a niche in Boston, where he remained for five seasons in a slow but steady decline as a solid contributor as a role player alongside David Wesley
David Wesley
David Barakau Wesley is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA. He is the cousin of former NBA player Michael Dickerson. He is currently an assistant coach for the Texas Legends.-High school and college:...
and Dee Brown and mentor to younger players such as Antoine Walker
Antoine Walker
Antoine Devon Walker is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League...
and Paul Pierce
Paul Pierce
Paul Anthony Pierce , nicknamed The Truth, is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the NBA. He earned First Team All-America honors in his junior year at Kansas, and has been a starter every season since being selected by the Celtics with the 10th overall pick in the...
.
In the offseason of 2000, Barros was traded to the Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...
as part of a four-team deal that also involved the Utah Jazz
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
and Golden State Warriors
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
. By the time the 2000-01 season had commenced, the Mavs had shipped Barros to the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
, where he played 89 games over two seasons, averaging 7.5 points per game until they waived him in 2002.
After that, he was out of the NBA for almost two years, before rejoining the Celtics towards the end of the 2003-04 regular season
2003-04 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:*Most Valuable Player: Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves*Rookie of the Year: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers*Defensive Player of the Year: Ron Artest, Indiana Pacers...
first as an assistant coach and later as a player. He scored six points in one final game. He retired from the league with career averages of 10.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and a career three-point accuracy of 41.1%.
After retiring from basketball, Barros opened the Dana Barros Sports Complex, a sports and social club in Mansfield, Massachusetts
Mansfield, Massachusetts
Mansfield is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the town population is 23,184. Mansfield is in the south-southwest suburbs of Boston and is also close to Providence, Rhode Island....
. However, the project proved more costly than Barros expected. He incurred massive debts, and he eventually left the business in 2006.
For two months in 2006, Barros worked as an assistant coach for the Northeastern University men's basketball team, a position from which he resigned in June 2006 to accept a role as the Director of Recreation for the city of Boston.
Barros is now with the media relations department for the Celtics.
Barros serves as a "basketball insider" for New England Sports Network
New England Sports Network
The New England Sports Network, or NESN [NESS-en], is a regional cable television network that covers the six New England states except Fairfield County, Connecticut and Southbury, Connecticut, a town in New Haven County, Connecticut which is covered by New York City sports networks...
(NESN) and offers analysis and insight on the NBA on the show NESN Daily.