DALLAS — The end has officially come for J.J. Barea, the basketball player.
The former Dallas Mavericks guard and member of the 2011 NBA title team said in an interview with El Nuevo Día, an outlet from his native Puerto Rico, on Tuesday night that he is retiring from professional basketball.
Barea, who turned 38 last month, last played in the NBA during the 2019-20 season, the year after he suffered a torn right Achilles. After playing in 29 games — plus appearing in one playoff game against the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA bubble — he re-signed with the Mavericks to play another year, but was waived nine days later. He has since played on professional teams in Spain and Puerto Rico.
While not a player for the Mavericks during the past season, Barea was still around the team. He served as an unofficial assistant coach for the Mavericks’ 2021 summer league squad, becoming one of the latest members of Dallas’ championship roster to return to the organization in some fashion outside of playing.
“They [the Mavericks] want me to be part of it; I want to be part of it,” Barea said at the time. “It’s perfect. I want to stay involved. ... I love coaching, especially for the Dallas Mavericks. My job the next couple of years is to get experience and get better, stay involved with the team and help as much as I can.”
After going undrafted in 2006, Barea impressed the Mavericks enough as a member of the Golden State Warriors’ summer league team for Dallas to sign him. He would spend the next five years of his career with the Mavericks, culminating as a key role player on the 2011 title team.
After leaving in free agency, spending the next three seasons in Minnesota, Barea returned to the Mavericks in 2014 and spent the final six seasons of his NBA career in Dallas.
Barea appeared in 831 regular-season games (107 starts) over his 14 NBA seasons. He averaged 8.9 points, 3.9 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game.
