RJ Barrett takes on a King-size challenge: Guarding LeBron James
LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers controls the ball against RJ Barrett #9 of the Knicks in the third quarter at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2022 in Los Angeles. Credit: Getty Images/Ronald Martinez
LOS ANGELES — After another in a long line of heartbreaking losses, this one after squandering a 21-point lead and falling to the Lakers in overtime Saturday night, the Knicks at least had some sign of hope to cling to in RJ Barrett.
It wasn’t just the career-best 36 points that Barrett delivered in 49:37, or his tying three-pointer with 8.1 seconds left that sent the game into overtime. Actually, the best sign came long before he took the court.
With Thursday’s trade deadline approaching, the Knicks again are left to figure out where they are, if they have the building blocks to work with. Barrett provided a hint when he saw the task in front of the team Saturday and searched out the assistant coach in charge of scouting the Lakers game to let him know that he wanted the most challenging task: guarding LeBron James.
"Yeah, I did," Barrett said. "I was texting everybody trying to figure out who had the scout so I could tell him I wanted to guard him. It was a tough matchup. He’s so smart. And physically he’s really strong . . . Different coaches have scouts. I was asking who had the [scout assignment] so I could tell him I wanted to guard him. Also, when guarding a guy like that, you just try to hold him to below his average or at his average. He had a really great game. He came back tonight and he was ready."
James had 29 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in 39:55 after missing the previous five games with swelling in his left knee.
Barrett gave away a few inches, and as sturdy as he is at 21 years old, he still is about 40 pounds lighter than James.
James, who is 37, is in his 19th season and has children closer in age to Barrett than Barrett is to the Lakers' superstar, had been waiting for this day.
"I think he had 17 in the first quarter, if I'm not mistaken," James said. "He hit big-time shots down the stretch. Obviously, the three to tie it at 111; the full-court dunk in transition. He just hit key shot after key shot tonight.
"I've been knowing RJ for quite a while now. I was in Toronto during the summertime, I think he was a high school junior or senior, and there was a call to my agent, Rich [Paul] . . . that there was a kid in Toronto that was possibly next.
" . . . I was going to the gym to get some work in and they called Rich and asked, 'Can he join?' And I was like, absolutely. So I've been knowing him quite a while. I followed him throughout those last few years of high school and obviously off to Duke and now as a Knick.
"So he's young, so you're going to have your bumps and bruises throughout the course of your career. When you're young, you're figuring out the game, you're figuring out the speed, you're figuring out the tempo and things of that nature. But I think he's handled it extremely well, especially being . . . It's a different light and a different heat when you play for the Knicks, and I think he's handled it extremely well."
The Knicks' front office may be listening to calls on just about any player on the roster, but stepping forward for challenges like this might make Barrett one of the few pieces the team can hang tightly to with the trade deadline looming.
"Anybody that’s willing to take that challenge, that tells you what they’re about," Julius Randle said. "It’s not an easy task, especially with what that man is doing at 37 years old, it’s crazy. So he took the challenge on both ends of the floor and was really good today."
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
