JJ Barea’s journey from Puerto Rico to Northeastern and eventually to the NBA finals has earned him a spot among Northeastern’s athletic best.
Written by Beckett Sanderson. Photo Courtesy of NU Athletics.
Not many 5’10” guards play in the NBA at all, let alone at a high level. To do so takes a tremendous work ethic, skill, and a deep understanding of the game of basketball. Jose Juan “JJ” Barea had all that and more on his journey to an NBA championship and Northeastern Athletics greatness.
GROWING UP
Barea’s story starts in 1984 in the town of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico where he was born to parents Marta and Jaime Barea and grew upwith two older brothers. Barea had his first major basketball step on the Indios de Mayagüez, a professional basketball team in Puerto Rico. However, before playing much for the team, he made the difficult decision to transfer to the United States and attend the Miami Christian School in Miami, Florida in hopes of obtaining a college scholarship.
Barea had doubters at first, but quickly put them to rest with 37 points and 21 assists in his first game with the team. He would go on to average 24.8 points per game for the whole season, leading Miami Christian to a 38-2 record and the state title.
His success caught the attention of then assistant coach for Northeastern Basketball, Frank Martin, who had a relationship with Barea’s high school coach. Martin convinced head coach Ron Everhart to come to Miami to watch Barea play. Everhart was so impressed by Barea’s dominance that he made Barea an offer to come play at Northeastern. More importantly, Barea was given a promise: “[You’ll] have the ball from day one”.
Those words resonated with Barea. It was this promise of opportunity that convinced him to move to Huntington Avenue.
“I tell the kids you have to go to a place where they first of all want you and second of all give you an opportunity,” said Barea. “They want to go to the big schools, and I say just go to a place that will help you and for me they gave me the ball as a freshman, and I got better.”
Despite a gloomy first impression of Boston, Barea has no regrets on his decision.
“When I came to visit, it wasn’t great. It was raining, it was cold, and for some reason there was nobody around,” said Barea. “But I decided to come here, and I think it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life.”
NORTHEASTERN
Becoming a Husky, Barea had to deal with a transition to school the same as any other student-athlete, quickly learning to balance his athletics with his major in sociology and minor in education.
“I had to do it all here by myself for the first time and it’s schoolwork, weights, practice, travel,” Barea recalled.
His commitment to basketball got off to a fantastic start as Coach Everhart lived up to his promise; Barea served on the starting five for every game of his freshman year. Over the course of his career, Barea would start all but one of the 113 games played, an incredible feat of both durability and skill.
Behind the scenes, this took hours of work. Barea’s rigorous schedule consisted of “6 am weights, then school, then 3 pm practice, and practice was over whenever [Coach Everhart] wanted it to be over.”
In addition to the grind of a collegiate varsity team, Barea kept his home close to heart, playing for the Puerto Rican national team during his summers off from school.
The hard work that Barea endured in college formed the “hard work and discipline” that would go on to serve him for years to come.
“I went through the toughest times ever here in Northeastern, with school, basketball, Coach [Everhart]. When I hit the NBA, I didn’t have to go to school, I just had to listen to [my NBA coaches]. And I had already dealt with Ron Everhart so [they were] easy.”
In addition to the life lessons, Barea’s discipline translated to on-court success. Barea averaged 20.3 points per game as well as 6.4 assists per game over the course of his career at Northeastern, finishing second all-time in school history for total points (2,290) and assists (721). Barea’s success was recognized by All-Division honors in each of his four years at Northeastern and won him CAA Player of the Year in his senior year of 2005-06.
When the time came to move on, Barea had taken all that he possibly could out of his time at Northeastern.
THE NBA
Looking back on it now it may seem crazy, but the NBA wasn’t originally a part of Barea’s plan.
“I just loved playing here and being good here and getting better every year,” Barea recalled. “And then when I finished my senior year that was when people started with ‘Hey, maybe you have a chance in the NBA’.”
But it was only a chance. After he entered the 2006 NBA draft and heard 60 names called, none of which were his own, Barea was left with one last chance to prove himself. After a hard-fought 2006 Summer League with the Golden State Warriors, Barea earned a small contract with the Dallas Mavericks, the eventual number one seed in the entire NBA.
For many athletes, going undrafted can be the kiss of death. But Barea saw it as an opportunity.
“When I got to the NBA I was on a really good team in Dallas, so I knew I wasn’t going to play my first year,” said Barea. “I wasn’t in school, so I was just in the gym every day getting better. They’re paying me to be here so they’re going to have to put me in the game at some point.”
The additional time gave Barea the chance to work on his game and prepare for the eventual chance he knew was coming. The Mavericks assigned him to a team in the G-League, the NBAs developmental league, the Fort Worth Flyers, to give him time to adjust to the NBA speed.
Barea quickly showcased the talent that convinced the Mavericks to sign him in the first place. After only 15 days and eight games, during which he averaged 27.3 points and 7.8 assists per game culminating in two 40+ point performances, the Mavericks called him back to the main team.
Barea talks of being in the right place at the right time, but it was him that worked towards his craft day in and day out and earned the right to play professionally. Committed to “getting better at something every day”, Barea was always prepared and took his chances when he got them. It was this mindset that led him to an infamous Mavericks 2011 NBA Finals run.
The Dallas Mavericks had a successful 2010-11 NBA regular season that earned them the number three seed in the Western Conference playoffs. After averaging a little over 20 minutes per game in the regular season, Barea soon found himself having more and more of an impact as the playoffs progressed.
“The first series I played pretty well, the second series I did really well, and I knew I could get better during those playoffs,” said Barea. “I think I was playing the best basketball of my life.”
As the pressure picked up, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle began to rely on Barea more and more often. Finally came the biggest series of his career. In only the Mavericks’ second Finals appearance ever, they found themselves down 2-1 against a juggernaut Miami Heat team that included all time greats LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
Then came the big moment for Barea. Carlisle decided to switch Barea into the starting lineup for game four, a choice that developed into a pivotal moment in the series.
“Against Miami I was getting wherever I wanted in the games. I knew there was a chance Coach [Carlisle] was going to change the lineup, but it took a lot of guts from Coach.”
After getting the call on the way home, the first thing he did was tell his parents who were naturally ecstatic. Then came the difficult part of the assignment — tuning out the noise.
“Don’t change anything. Hang out with the boys. I tried to relax I turned my phone off and not listen to anybody.”
The choice by Carlisle turned the series around. The Mavericks went on to win the next three games in a row and claim their first, and only, NBA Championship.
“[Carslile told me to] ‘grab the ball and attack and attack and attack as much as you can the first six minutes of the game.’ So that’s exactly what I did and it worked out,” Barea remembered. “Like I said, you’ve just got to be ready for the opportunity and try to take advantage.”
The rest is history. Barea was never able to advance to the Finals again, but earned a four year, 18 million dollar contract from the Minnesota Timberwolves after his impressive playoff run. After that contract was up he returned to the Mavericks for six more years before retiring in 2020.
By the end of his career, Barea had more win shares (a catch-all measurement of success) than all but ten of the 60 players chosen above him, making him one of the best undrafted players in NBA history.
RETIREMENT
While Barea claims to be retired for now, he still has hopes of continuing his basketball career on the coaching side of the game.
“I’m just going to enjoy the kids for now, enjoy the family,” he said. “At some point I want to get into coaching. So we’ll see where it goes.”
He already has some experience in the area as a current general manager for a pro team in Puerto Rico as well as a role as a part-time developmental coach with the Mavericks.
As for Northeastern?
“I hope my kids come here one day so I could spend more time over here. I hope one day, kind of joking around, but I hope I could coach this team.”
Indeed, we all can hope for his homecoming. But no matter where he goes from here, JJ Barea will always be known as one of the greatest athletes in Northeastern University history.
The Red & Black 