OAKLAND — On the day he won the MVP award in a landslide, Stephen Curry was already looking ahead to another election. The Warriors guard used his news conference to launch the political campaign of teammate Harrison Barnes.
“You’ve got my vote when you run for whatever office,” Curry said.
The line got a chuckle. But it wasn’t a joke.
Barnes, 22, really does have political aspirations. It’s a course he has been plotting since he was a kid in Ames, where he watched presidential hopefuls blaze through town as part of the Iowa caucuses.
“They lit the state on fire,” Barnes recalled. “There was so much craziness going on. I kind of got exposed to the landscape like that. It made me aware at a young age that that’s how change is supposed to happen.”
For now, of course, Barnes has his own craziness going on. The Warriors are in the Western Conference finals for the first time since the Gerald Ford administration. They host the Houston Rockets in Game 1 on Tuesday.
Barnes’ approval ratings are way up after a strong performance in the conference semifinals. He scored double-digits in all six games against the Memphis Grizzlies, shooting 54.4 percent.
“Harrison Barnes is quietly having a tremendous series and doesn’t get enough credit,” Memphis coach Dave Joerger said after Game 5.
The future political candidate apparently believes in a strong defense. Coach Steve Kerr praised the 225-pound Barnes during the series for helping the Warriors control the 260-pound Zach Randolph.
“That’s what makes Harrison unique: The fact he’s strong enough to guard a guy like Zach Randolph — obviously, with help,” Kerr said. “He’s strong enough to hold off some of the league’s best power forwards for periods of the game. He’s quick enough to switch onto a point guard.”
When Barnes talks about some of the players he admires most, though, he mentions a different type of versatility. He’s a big fan of Bill Bradley, the former New York Knicks small forward better known for his three terms as a U.S. Senator.
Barnes also keeps an eye on Kevin Johnson, the three-time All-Star now serving as the mayor of Sacramento. He said a few weeks ago that he planned to pick Johnson’s brain this summer about the transition from hoops to high office.
“It’s something I’ve thought about,” Barnes said after a recent practice. “I don’t know if it’s holding a position at the state level or at the national level or just going grass-roots style and trying to effect change that way.”
Just in case, Barnes carries himself with an air of diplomacy. He’s so stately and impressive during interviews that broadcaster Jim Barnett has nicknamed him “The Senator.”
It’s nothing new. Barnes has been image-conscious since he was a teenager living in the spotlight as the one of the nation’s top high school recruits.
“You’re definitely much more aware of how you carry yourself,” Barnes said. “You understand that you’re an example to lots of young kids. So you know that everything you do has an effect.
“On the other hand, it also gives you a platform. You get to voice your opinion. So if you want to have something changed, or bring awareness to something, you have a platform for that as well.”
Barnes played at North Carolina, where coach Roy Williams insisted players wear suits in the public eye. Barnes and his teammates did the same thing at Ames High. “They didn’t even fit,” Barnes said with a laugh. “We just wanted to look the part.”
Barnes graduated near the top of his class and helped the team win the Iowa 4A state championship. (He completed nine advance-placement classes before graduating high school.)
He owes his polish to his mother, Shirley, who had a template in mind while raising her children. Shirley idolized Michael Jordan for his talent on the court and for his composure off it. Just to make it clear whom her son should take after, she named him Harrison Bryce Jordan Barnes.
When her children got older, Shirley ran Harrison and his younger sister Jourdan-Ashle through mock news conferences to sharpen their interview skills. An ESPN.com profile of Shirley in 2011 said the exercise was inspired by a church service.
“Our pastor gave a sermon and his message was, ‘Don’t tell it all,’ meaning don’t give up more than what people ask,” Shirley told ESPN. “Let them see who you are by what you do.”
Harrison Barnes’ rehearsed image has a flip side, however. He risks coming across as buttoned-up, even aloof. Teammates at North Carolina used to tease him for thinking so much about his brand while still in school. Barnes once had a logo made up — “The Black Falcon,” a reference to one of his other nicknames — but that idea never took flight.
Barnes’ play can look overly careful, too. The seventh pick of the 2012 draft averaged a pedestrian 9.6 points over his first three seasons. Teammates have encouraged him to bring more of a snarl, which is why teammate Draymond Green praised his play after his 14-performance against the Grizzlies in Game 5.
“When he’s aggressive like that, he’s tough to stop,” Green told reporters. “He’s so athletic and fundamentally sound.”
Barnes laughs off the notion that he’s too serious. He recently hosted a “Game of Thrones” party for some selected Twitter followers and still goes rapturous over his favorite TV show, “Breaking Bad.”
And, Barnes noted, he’s not always on the campaign trail.
“When you see me on the street, you’re not going to see me in a suit and tie,” he said. “You’re going to see me in sweats, T-shirts and sandals.”
Barnes never mentioned a political party during this conversation, but he cited two causes close to his heart. He said he’s a big fan of the “Free America” campaign launched by musician John Legend. The goal is to end mass incarceration by changing the penalties for some crimes.
He also likes Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” initiative to combat obesity.
Barnes’ own platform will have to wait.
For one thing, he left UNC after two years and needs go back to finish his major in business administration.
There’s also the matter of the Warriors’ opportunity to win their first NBA championship since 1975.
Barnes has Curry’s endorsement in that regard, too.
“You are wise beyond your years and a huge catalyst for our success the last three years,” the MVP said after winning the award. “(You) just getting better every single year has been huge for us.”
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