Matt Barnes signs contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers - NBA Update
Los Angeles Lakers Matt Barnes announced on Tuesday that he will stay with the franchise. The reserve small forward has signed a $1.91 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Barnes made the announcement in a press meeting, saying, "I'll be a Laker next year. I always knew what I was going to do."
The announcement came after the Lakers announced Mike Brown as their new head coach. He was the only Lakers player present at the press conference and expressed his full confidence in the newly appointed coach.
"He's an open minded coach, which is good. We have a very veteran-driven team and I'm sure guys will have their opinion on this and that but as long as he listens and decides what's best for the team, I think he'll be great." He
said.
Matt joined the Lakers back in 2010 and had a terrific first year with the franchise. He gathered lot of success as he teamed up with the Shannon Brown and Steve Blake in the Lakers. The Lakers trio was given the name of “Killer
B’s” because of their destructive game off the bench.
However, as the season progressed the Lakers’ roster went through a period when many of their players had to stay of the court because of the injuries and Barnes also was among those players. Matt endured a knee injury that kept
him away from the game for an extended period.
Because of the injury, Barnes wasn’t able to participate in the 2011 playoffs and failed to help the Lakers three peat run.
The forward told that he didn’t watch any basketball game for a long while and still is upset at the loss that the Lakers suffered from the hands of new champions Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs routed the former two times defending
champions Lakers 4-0 in the second round of the 2011 playoffs and ended the coach Phil Jackson’s golden era on a bad note.
"I'm still sick. I haven't watched a second of basketball. I haven't watched Sports Center because I know basketball will be on there. I'm still hurt thinking about it. One, the way we exited and two, me not being able to help."
Barnes played 53 games in the previous season and scored at an average of 6.7 points along with 4.3 boards and 1.3 assists. Matt achieved these stats in 19.2 minutes of playing time.
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