Raptors' Scottie Barnes responds to ESPN's “crazy” label as screener
Scottie Barnes, the screener.
That, according to a recent ESPN article.
He’s probably a little more, according to the Toronto Raptors rookie forward.
“I just thought it was funny that they just said that, so I really just reacted to it,” Barnes said. “It was just a little funny thing I saw. But really, I’m just still developing my game, each game throughout the season. I’m working on it, getting my shooting better, running the floor in transition.”
In a slotting of NBA freshmen by ESPN earlier in the week, Barnes was ranked the NBA’s third-best rookie, with the article suggesting “Barnes remains most dynamic when pushing in transition like a young Magic Johnson, attacking off the bounce, and even playing pick-and-roll as the ball handler.”
But it also listed his skill as ‘The Screener.’
Raptors fans we need to start bullying. We cannot let this continue. Dw we got you @ScottBarnes561 pic.twitter.com/LF7u5vSkgz
— lay🌟 (@gtjangels) January 18, 2022
It didn’t slip by Barnes, who dropped a comment on Instagram to show it, complete with a run of the laughing emoji.
“The screener is crazy😂😂😂😂,” he said.
The comment was up to 3,551 likes as of Saturday morning.
View this post on Instagram
Barnes, who just dropped an NBA career-high 27 points in a 109-105 win against the Washington Wizards, elaborated postgame.
Asked Scottie Barnes tonight about his reaction to being labelled “the screener” and how he’d describe his own playstyle.
“My game’s just gonna keep expanding, as time goes on my game’s just gonna continue to grow.”#Raptors https://t.co/WtuCtgRqYL pic.twitter.com/TowJbLjgGa
— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) January 22, 2022
“My game’s just going to keep expanding, so I’m not really limiting my game to one aspect because as time goes on my game’s just going to continue to grow,” he said.
Barnes, the fourth overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, has averaged 14.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game this season.
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