Raptors' Scottie Barnes showed no mercy against kids at his basketball camp

Jun 25 2023, 6:53 pm

Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes hasn’t played a meaningful basketball game since April, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still locked in with his ultra-competitive mindset.

Hosting a basketball camp this weekend at the University of Toronto’s Mississauga campus, Barnes had a couple hundred children aged 8-16 in attendance to learn from the 2021-22 NBA Rookie of the Year.

And despite the fact that he’s a rising NBA star while some of the kids are in elementary school, Barnes didn’t exactly show mercy to the campers when taking to the floor with them.

In videos shared on social media, Barnes was seen blocking, dribbling, and shooting the lights out against the kids in a series of friendly scrimmages.

While there might’ve been a few future Raptors in the crowd, Barnes wasn’t quite letting them show him up in his adopted province.

Of course, it’s all in a bit of good fun — who would want to see an NBA player get beat because he’s not trying his hardest?

Barnes averaged 15.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in 77 games in his second season with the Raptors in 2022-23 while picking up 83 steals and 61 blocks along the way.

Barnes looks set to be part of the Raptors’ future along with incoming rookie Gradey Dick, who the Raptors took at 13th overall in last week’s NBA Draft. In an Open Gym video released by the team following the selection, the pair FaceTimed following the draft, with Barnes and Dick planning to link up in Toronto this weekend.

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