SAN ANTONIO — With just seconds left in the San Antonio Spurs recent matchup against the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, Keldon Johnson found himself with a wide-open lane and one thing on his mind: Seal the win for the team with an exclamation dunk!
A dunk, or even a layup, would have been sufficient, but after he attacked the basket, he held on to the rim a bit longer and rattled it while yelling in excitement.
Sure, the game was out of reach for Utah, and his dunk sealed the win for San Antonio, but Harrison Barnes saw a teaching moment for the longest-tenured Spur: Do not ever give the opposition any fuel that can swing the momentum.
"Keldon does that dunk every day in practice," Barnes said. "Then today was the day. Now, he didn't hurt us in that moment specifically, but it was one of those things where you talk about certain things in practice."
Barnes, 32 years old, wasted no time talking to Johnson about his emphatic dunk. He immediately spoke to him near center court as the final buzzer went off as if he were on the Spurs' coaching ranks correcting in-game behavior.
And that's a big reason why he is in San Antonio.
He is the ultimate professional. He brings a no-nonsense approach to the game that the younger players can see and try to emulate as their pro careers unfold.
That veteran leadership was on full display when Barnes spoke to Johnson about how anything could fuel the opposition at any point of the game.
"We don't want to ever be in a situation where let's say, that's in the third quarter, earlier in the fourth, and that happens," he said. "They get momentum off that play, and nothing's changed."
Since coming to the Spurs, Barnes has stressed each and every postgame or practice media session: Establishing good habits with players and paying attention to the small things that can swing a game in an instant.
Had Johnson's dunk occurred earlier in the game, when the Spurs were trying to erase their deficit against Utah, the Jazz could have used that to gain momentum and keep San Antonio's comeback at bay.
When Johnson does those types of rim-shaking dunks in practice, Barnes tells him how refs will call technical fouls and to avoid that situation.
"You talk about certain things and how they could come back to bite you," he said.
Barnes has played every game this season (16) and brings a workman-like approach. He plays his role, contributes to both ends of the floor and brings calmness to the team.
This season, he averages 10.9 points per game, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 49% field-goal shooting.
More importantly, he guides the young Spurs and even their most tenured player to become better players.
"I think for us, it's just a matter of just holding that standard every single night," he said. "But shooting ourselves in the foot, with our approach, with our turnovers, with our lack of execution, those are the things that we are going to clean up, and we're going to mature this season."