The "slight" of matt barnes was not particularly egregious. Certainly not to the point where Mo Cheeks disrespected him badly.
Saying Matt Barnes was a 20 mpg player isn't entirely true. He played 19 mpg his rookie year (in about half the games), which was increased enormously by his 9 starts. When he was coming off the bench, he was about a 15 minute per game player. He then played in 43 games his second year at 16 mpg. He came over to the Sixers, but was not a part of their plans. He did not play after the trade, which isn't all that odd, considering how late in the season it was. He then went to NY and had a cup of coffee. He then came back to Philly, and played in almost every game, at 11 mpg. He actually played in a higher % of games there than any other year in his career, and going from 16 mpg to 11 mpg isn't exactly killing a career. The major difference in his minutes was there wasn't an injury which pushed him into the starting lineup. When you look at his minutes off the bench, they're very comparable.
This is not sour grapes. not at all. There are dozens of Matt Barnes around the league. What drives me nuts is players thinking they have something handed to them. Not everything is a "disrespect". Not getting playing time is not being disrespected. What drives me nuts is I respected Matt before he got to Philly, but he's been a whiner ever since. Matt was the 45th pick in the draft (a pretty weak one at that). He had played in 87 career games before coming to Philly the 2nd time, at 17.6 minutes per game. Playing in 50 games, at 11 minutes per, isn't exactly disrespect. Shut up Matt, and play basketball. It's great you picked it up (although, like I said, there's still dozens of you, and you're not getting a "big money" contract), but do so with a little grace and humility.
