J.J. Barea has sights set on NBA coaching career

J.J. Barea has thrown his name into the NBA coaching ring.

On Tuesday, Barea told Mavs.com that he has a strong interest in becoming an NBA coach, starting with being on the staff of any of the league’s 30 teams. But if he had his druthers, Barea said he would prefer to start his coaching journey as an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks.

“Everybody that knows me knows my first option will always be with the Mavs,” Barea said. “I would love to be with the Mavs.

“But if that don’t work out, then I’ve got to look for another option and see what I can do. But my first option is to be with the Mavs.”

Undrafted out of Northeastern in 2006, Barea played for the Mavs from 2006-11 and again from 2014-20, and is one of the most popular players in the franchise’s history. He also worked as a Mavs’ development coach in 2021.

But he now has been bitten by the coaching bug and wants to give that part of the game a try.

“I’ve got an agent now — a coaching agent – and I’ve had conversations with the Mavs,” Barea said. “The Mavs know I’m interested in coaching, and now the entire NBA knows, so I just started the conversations.

“I’m just learning things and studying the coaching ways, and when the opportunity comes I’ll be ready to go.”

Barea’s Maverick connections run deep. In addition to working for Mavs governor Mark Cuban, Barea was a teammate of current Mavs coach Jason Kidd from 2008-11, and a teammate of Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki for 10 seasons, and a teammate of current Mavs point guard Luka Doncic from 2018-20.

Barea, Kidd and Nowitzki were teammates when the Mavs captured the franchise’s lone NBA title in 2011 in six games over LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat. That series turned when then-Mavs coach Rick Carlisle inserted Barea into the starting lineup in place of DeShawn Stevenson after the Mavs trailed the best-of-seven series, 2-1.

With Barea in the starting lineup, the Mavs won the ensuing three games and the series.

“I remember the phone call from coach Carlisle like it was today,” Barea said. “The good thing about it is I was playing so good and I had so much confidence, and when I got the phone call I got so excited because I knew I was going to help a lot.

“What was especially helpful too is that it was also helpful to DeShawn Stevenson, because he was taken out of the starting lineup and he played so well coming off the bench. It took a lot of confidence for coach to make that move, and then for me to take advantage of it. It was awesome.”

Barea is currently a general manager of a pro team (Humacao) in Puerto Rico. He also said he did some coaching on the side of the youth basketball team of his 11-year old son, Sebastian.

“I’m just getting ready, and now when I watch the games I watch as if I was a coach and just learning and getting ready for the opportunity,” Barea said. “I also did coach (Indios de Mayaguez) in 2017 — which is a pro league in Puerto Rico — for the summer.

“That’s when I knew I liked coaching and I was good at it and I wanted to do it after I retired.”

A 5-10 point guard, Barea currently lives in Miami and attended seven of the Heat’s regular season games and he believes they could advance past the New York Knicks and make it to the Eastern Conference Finals and perhaps even beyond that.

“I went to see them play one of the last games of the regular season, and they’re playing great,” Barea said. “I went to the play-in game and I saw (Heat forward) Kevin Love play and he fits in really well with this team.

“And then Jimmy Butler is playing better and better, and then they got hot. You know how it is when a team gets hot. When you get the right people, you never know.”

As far as who he thinks will capture this year’s NBA title, Barea said: “I would love to see Denver win it, but until somebody beats Golden State, I’m going to say Golden State will win it, because they’re still a great team. I think that’s a team that’s only going to get better and better throughout the playoffs, but they’ve got a tough matchup in (the Western Conference semifinals in) the (Los Angeles) Lakers.

“I thought Sacramento was going to beat the Warriors (in the first round of the playoffs), because they were faster. I think the Lakers are a little too slow for them. Klay (Thompson) is still struggling a little bit. When he gets going, it’s going to be really tough to beat them.”

Barea also thinks the Mavs – they were 38-44 and missed the playoffs – will redeem themselves and bounce back next year.

“There’s no secrets – it was a tough year for the Mavs,” Barea said. “But one thing I know about the Mavs and Mark and Jason, they’re competitors. They’re going to figure it out and try to get the team together for next year.

“I know Luka is going to be ready to go next year. He’s one of the best players in the world. We’re not far off. We’re going to try to put this team together again.”

Barea, who turns 39 on June 26, hopes he can be a part of helping put the Mavs back together again. He averaged 8.9 points and 3.9 assists in 831 career games, and believes his knowledge can be a tremendous asset to an NBA team.

“Life is good,” Barea said. “I’m a building a sports complex in Puerto Rico — a basketball gym — so it keeps me a little busy. I’m glad I took a couple of years off, and now I’m starting to get back into it and see where I land and see what’s a good position for me.

“I’ve been in Miami since I finished playing with the Mavs. If I got to go back to Dallas, then I’ll move back to Dallas. If I pick another job, then I’ve got to make another decision. I’ve got to make sure I give myself that opportunity and see what happens.”

Twitter: @DwainPrice