R.J. Barrett has gotten a crash course in how tough life in the NBA can be for a rookie this season. The New York Knicks’ first round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft is averaging 13.9 points and 5.1 rebounds a night, but his efficiency numbers have been nothing short of brutal, as he’s connecting on 39.1 percent of his field goal attempts, 31.1 percent of his threes, and 60.1 percent of his free throws.
We can probably assume that Barrett is going to spend a whole lot of time this summer working on refining his jumper, but on Wednesday morning, the former Duke standout gave a glimpse into what the issue might be. Basically, Barrett told the press that he’s a righty, and that his shooting form with his right hand looks good, he just feels more comfortable shooting the ball with his left hand.
RJ Barrett just informed us that he’s actually a righty and has better shooting form with his right. Just more comfortable shooting with his left. Huh.
— Laura Albanese (@AlbaneseLaura) February 26, 2020
Barrett said he does everything with his right hand, but grew up feeling more ambidextrous. His mom is a lefty, so he picked up some of her habits.
— Laura Albanese (@AlbaneseLaura) February 26, 2020
Barrett has discussed being right-hand dominant before, as he told the First Take crew that he’s a righty last year.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with being able to use your off hand — that’s a really good skill to have! — but because Barrett is having such a tough year shooting the ball with what he admits is his weaker hand, this is going to get magnified. It’s something that we’ve seen pop up in the discourse around Sixers star Ben Simmons, who is also right-hand dominant but shoots with his left hand. The difference, of course, is that Simmons is an All-Star despite his lack of a jumper, while Barrett has a long way to go before he gets to that point.
