Warriors assistant coach Leandro Barbosa said coach Steve Kerr approached him about playing this season and doesn’t know why the opportunity never materialized.
Barbosa, who specializes on the Warriors staff in mentoring players, acknowledged that the idea of him returning as a player after three years away from the NBA “wasn’t a joke at all” when injuries decimated the team’s rotation while the Warriors were in the playoff hunt.
“[Kerr] came up to me and said, ‘LB what would you think if we had to sign you to a 10-day contract?’ or whatever,” Barbosa said on the “Locked On Warriors” podcast. “Before it wasn’t a 10-day contract. Before it was like sign the whole rest of the year.
“I said, ‘What do you mean? What do you want me to do?’ Obviously, I can be a veteran off the bench with the young guys but then he came up to me and said ‘No, I want you to play.’
“I said, ‘Give me the same role that I had when I was here and I’d be fine with that.’ Then he asked me one more time if I’d be OK with that and I said, ‘Yes, not a problem. I’m still in shape, my body is still feeling great.’”
But those conversations did not lead to a contract for the 38-year-old Brazilian, who in two seasons in Golden State (2014-16) won a championship and averaged 6.7 points on 46.8% shooting (36.9% from 3-point range), 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 15.4 minutes as a key reserve. He will play in the BIG3 league, which features former NBA stars in a 3-on-3 format, later this summer.
After trading guard Brad Wanamaker and center Marquese Chriss at the trade deadline, the Warriors had two open roster spots for much of the season. Barbosa, in his first season on the Warriors staff, could have filled either spot.
Kerr half-joked about the idea during several media sessions when his team dealt with injuries to Stephen Curry (tailbone), Kelly Oubre (wrist) and Damion Lee (toe and coronavirus) in the second half of the season.
“It wasn’t a joke at all,” Barbosa said. “Unfortunately that didn’t happen. But if it happened, I was ready to go. I know the offense, I know how we play… So as far as the connection with the guys, I don’t have a problem at all.”
So why didn’t it happen?
“I really don’t know, my man,” Barbosa said. “That’s a question you’d have to ask Steve or the organization.”
Ultimately, the Warriors promoted forward Juan Toscano-Anderson to the 15-man roster and signed guard Gary Payton II, after a pair of 10-day contracts, to a rest-of-season minimum deal.
Meanwhile, Barbosa will continue in his role as player-mentor coach, a role he said he enjoyed and involved mentoring and practicing with the team’s young players such as Toscano-Anderson, Nico Mannion and James Wiseman. Barbosa was a constant presence in practice, participating in 1 on 1 and 5 on 5 scrimmages. He also worked with Klay Thompson during Thompson’s rehab from a season-ending Achilles tear.
“I was playing with the guys, but not playing in a game,” he said.
From July to August, Barbosa will play for the Ball Hogs in the BIG3, founded by rapper Ice Cube in 2017. Barbosa will play alongside former NBA players Brian Scalabrine, Spencer Hawes and Jodie Meeks on a team coached by Warriors legend Rick Barry.