Marvin Barnes
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Marvin Jerome "Bad News" Barnes (July 27, 1952 – September 8, 2014) was an American professional
basketball player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
. A
forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...
, he was an All-American at
Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...
, and played professionally in both the
American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...
(ABA) and
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA).


College career

In 1973, Barnes was the first player to score 10 times on 10 field goal attempts in an NCAA tournament game, a record surpassed by Kenny Walker, who went 11-for-11 in 1986. He led the nation in rebounding in 1973–74. On December 15, 1973, Barnes scored 52 points against Austin Peay, breaking the single-game school record. At
Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
, Barnes averaged 20.7 points, 17.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 89 career games under coach
Dave Gavitt David Roy Gavitt (October 26, 1937 – September 16, 2011) was an American college basketball coach and athletic director at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. He was also well known as the first commissioner of the Big East Conference ...
.


Professional career

Barnes was drafted by the
Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...
with the second overall pick in the first round of the 1974 NBA draft and by the
Spirits of St. Louis The Spirits of St. Louis were a basketball franchise based in St. Louis that played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1974 to 1976. This was the third and last city of a franchise that had begun as a charter member in 1967 as the ...
in the 1974 ABA Draft. Barnes opted for the ABA and played for the Spirits in the
American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...
from 1974 to 1976 before playing in the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
from 1976 to 1980. He had his greatest success in the ABA, where he starred for the Spirits and was named Rookie of the Year for the 1974–75 season. Barnes also shares the ABA record for most two-point
field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...
s in a game, with 27. In 2005, the ABA 2000, the second incarnation of the ABA, named one of their divisions after him. Often the colorful personality, Barnes once refused to board a plane from
Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
to
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. Because the flight was scheduled to arrive ( Central Time) before its departure time (
Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...
), Barnes famously said, "I ain't getting in no damn time machine." He rented a car instead. In 144 ABA games over two seasons, Barnes averaged 21.4 points, 13.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.9 blocks. In 171 career NBA games Barnes averaged 9.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists. His overall ABA/NBA career averages were 16.0 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Barnes was taken by the
Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...
in the 1976 ABA Dispersal Draft. In the 1976–77 Detroit Pistons season with Barnes, Pistons Powered described the season as "absolutely insane, probably the craziest in Pistons history. They won a lot of games, but were completely dysfunctional." Barnes was arrested for a probation violation for carrying a gun at the
Detroit Metropolitan Airport Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport , usually called Detroit Metro Airport, Metro Airport, or simply DTW, is a major international airport in the United States covering effective December 30, 2021. in Romulus, Michigan. It is the primar ...
, and the Pistons would eventually bench "Bad News" Barnes, who said "“News didn’t come here to sit on no wood.” In later years, star Detroit center
Bob Lanier Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who was a center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lanier was inducted int ...
reflected on the dysfunctional Barnes, stating "In the ABA, Marvin Barnes was a great, great player that had issues. They took a chance on him, but Marvin was still into street life and he affected
Eric Money Eric Money (born February 6, 1955) is a retired American professional basketball player. Amateur career A 6'0" guard out of Kettering High School in Detroit, Michigan, Money played alongside fellow future NBA players Lindsay Hairston and Coni ...
. Money (a Detroit product, who played college ball at
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
) could shoot the in-between jumper and he might’ve been one of the best that ever played. A few years ago I ran into Marvin in Houston and he said, ‘Bob, I used to get get high all the time and Eric started to get high with me.’ When somebody tells you that and this is 20-some odd years later, you want put your fist right through their head. And I adored Marvin Barnes – I liked his personality and he’s as charming a guy as you’d ever want to meet. But in terms of him trying to be part of the team that wins a championship … man…" Detroit traded Barnes to the
Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball franchise based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division from 1970 ...
at the start of the 1978–79 NBA season. Barnes then played for the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
for one season, and with Boston, Barnes later admitted to cocaine use on the bench, "Yeah, I was doing it on the bench. I was playing for the Celtics, and I was sitting next to
Nate Archibald Nathaniel "Tiny" Archibald (born September 2, 1948) is an American retired professional basketball player. He spent 14 years playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City–Omaha Kings ...
and somebody else, and I was snorting cocaine right there on the bench while the game was going on. They all moved away from me. I had it under a towel. I guess I don’t need to say that my career didn’t last much longer after that." Barnes would then finish his NBA career with the
San Diego Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
in 1980 before briefly playing in the
Italian Basketball League The Lega Basket A (officially: ''Lega Società di Pallacanestro Serie A'', English: Basket League) is the organizing body, as delegated by the Italian Basketball Federation, of the top division of Italian professional men's basketball league, t ...
for
Pallacanestro Trieste Pallacanestro Trieste 2004 is an Italian professional basketball club based in Trieste. They play in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) since the 2018–19 season. The Allianz Dome serves as the club's home arena. History A number of Trieste teams h ...
in the
Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...
in Italy in 1980–81.


Nickname

Barnes's nickname "Bad News" was derived from his frequent off-court problems, which began when he was a senior at Central High School. He was part of a gang that attempted to rob a bus. Barnes was quickly identified, as he was wearing his state championship jacket with his name embroidered on it. His case was handled by the juvenile justice system. In 1972, while playing center for Providence College, Barnes attacked a teammate with a tire iron. He later pleaded guilty to assault, paid the victim $10,000 and was placed on probation. Barnes violated probation in October 1976 when an unloaded gun was found in his bag at the Detroit Metro Airport, and served 152 days in Rhode Island state prison. Upon release he returned to the
Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...
. Barnes was later arrested for burglary, drug possession, and trespassing. Because of his drug use, Barnes's NBA career was cut short and he wound up homeless in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
in the early 1980s. After several rehab programs, Barnes started reaching out to youth in South Providence, where he grew up, urging them not to make the same mistakes he had.


Death

On September 8, 2014, Barnes died at the age of 62. The death was confirmed by
Kevin Stacom Kevin M. Stacom (born September 4, 1951) is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6'3" (1.90 m) guard from Holy Cross High School, Flushing, New York; and Providence College, Stacom played six seasons (1974–1979; 1981–1982) ...
, a scout for the Dallas Mavericks, who was a teammate on the Providence College team that reached the Final Four in 1973. Barnes, who had been drug-free for several years, had recently succumbed to his addiction again, Stacom said.


Legacy

In March 2008,
Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...
retired his jersey, honoring him along with
Ernie DiGregorio Ernest DiGregorio (born January 15, 1951), also known as "Ernie D.", is an American former professional basketball player. He was named NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1973–74 season and shares the NBA rookie record for assists in a single game w ...
and
Jimmy Walker James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Beau James, was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. A flamboyant politician, he was a liberal Democrat and part of the powerful Tammany Hall machine. He was forced t ...
. He still co-holds (since tied by
MarShon Brooks MarShon Scitif Brooks (born January 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Standing at , he plays at shooting guard and small forward positions. Origi ...
) the school single-game scoring record of 52 points. Barnes is also a member of the Providence Athletics Hall of Fame, enshrined in 1992.


See also

*
List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 30 or more rebounds in a game A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season rebounding leaders __NOTOC__ In basketball, a rebound is the act of gaining possession of the ball after a missed field goal or free throw. The National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I rebounding title is awarded to the player with the highest ...
*
List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career rebounding leaders __NOTOC__ In basketball, a rebound is the act of gaining possession of the ball after a missed field goal or free throw. The National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I's top 25 highest rebounders in men's basketball histor ...


References


External links


Marvin Barnes page
a
RememberTheABA.com
a
basketball-reference.com"ABA Names Division After Marvin "Bad News" Barnes"
Living the life {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Marvin 1952 births 2014 deaths African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players American people convicted of assault American sportspeople convicted of crimes Basketball players from Rhode Island Boston Celtics players Buffalo Braves players Centers (basketball) Detroit Pistons players Detroit Spirits players Evansville Thunder players Ohio Mixers players Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Power forwards (basketball) Providence Friars men's basketball players San Diego Clippers players Spirits of St. Louis draft picks Spirits of St. Louis players Sportspeople from Providence, Rhode Island 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people