Harrison Barnes Is Not Spooked by the Spurs' Start — and He Is Carrying an Orange UNICEF Box Into Halloween
The veteran forward told USA TODAY Sports the Spurs judged their 0-2 start against their own standard, and he is spending Halloween as a spokesman for Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, the program he took part in as a kid.
Losing the first two games of the season might cause a scare, but Harrison Barnes says the San Antonio Spurs measured the start against themselves. "Every day, we kind of pursue a standard, and I think to start the season, we were able to look around the locker room and say that we weren't at the standard that we wanted to play at," Barnes told USA TODAY Sports in an interview on behalf of UNICEF. "So I think for us, it's just a matter of can we go out every single night and be happy with the product that we put on the floor?" The Spurs have since won three straight, capped by Wednesday's 117-111 overtime win in Utah.
Barnes, 34, is a spokesman for Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, the program's 76th year, and he took part in it as a child — the little orange cardboard box kids carry to collect cash for children in need alongside their candy. "UNICEF is an organization that I know very well," he said. "This Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF is something that I did as a kid, and I truly believe that it's important to give back and to bring awareness to children that are in need." He remembers comparing candy hauls with his younger sister, Jourdan-Ashle Barnes, and now shares Halloween with his daughter, who he says enjoys dressing up as characters from "Frozen," "Moana" and "Encanto." Families can order the boxes online and donate the proceeds via CoinStar, credit card or check, USA TODAY reported.
The giving runs back to his mother, Shirley, who experienced homelessness when Barnes was a baby and later organized clothes for her charity, Suited For Work Clothing Closet, with her children's help, he told the paper in 2018 while with Dallas. "When you look at how all of us got here, it was a healthy foundation. It took a village, right?" he said. On the court, Barnes signed a one-year contract extension over the summer for a third year in San Antonio, embracing a mentor's role on a roster headlined by Victor Wembanyama — "one of my closest friends on the team," Barnes said, praising the 22-year-old as "a constant learner" with "an extreme curiosity of how to improve himself."
