After a 14-year NBA career spanning more than 900 games on the floor, Brent Barry transitioned into an analyst role occupied by many former players. The 46-year-old adjusted quickly to life behind a microphone and, in short, Barry developed into one of the better on-air voices in breaking down the NBA in his post-retirement life.
His impressive tenure with TNT and NBA TV will reportedly be coming to an end, though, as Barry is seemingly headed back to San Antonio to join the Spurs in a front office role.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Monday that Barry will rejoin the team he spent four of the final years of his career with.
The San Antonio Spurs are hiring Brent Barry, a television analyst and 14-year NBA veteran, into a front-office position, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 17, 2018
Barry is reportedly replacing Monty Williams in the front office after the former NBA head coach joined the staff of the Philadelphia 76ers under Brett Brown. While Barry is perhaps best known for his on-court work with the Seattle SuperSonics (and for his Slam Dunk Contest victory in 1996), he spent four seasons with the Spurs as a player and was a key cog on two NBA championship teams in 2005 and 2007.
Given the analytical nature of Barry’s work on the television side, it makes sense that he would be in high demand as a potential contributor to an organization and his relationships in San Antonio appear to be strong. For the Turner Sports crew, it will be a challenge to find a successor with the type of credibility and respect brought by Barry and the choices made in shuffling NBA coverage (on the eve of the 2018-19 season) will be interesting to monitor.
