Heels in the NBA: Harrison Barnes, Kyrie Irving are both friends and foes

Former ACC foes square off in the NBA Finals

Harrison Barnes and Kyrie Irving are currently opponents in the 2016 NBA Finals.

Barnes starts at the small forward position for the Golden State Warriors while Irving runs the starting point guard position for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In addition to being opponents on the basketball court, both players are friends off the court.

According to Irving, Barnes was supposed to attend Duke with him several years ago.

The recruiting battle for Barnes was intense during 2009 and 2010. Several years ago, reports surfaced that Barnes was leaning more towards Duke.

However, when he announced his college choice at his high school alma mater via ESPNU, Barnes chose Carolina blue over royal blue (there is no such thing as Duke blue).

At this time, Barnes and Irving were two of the top high school basketball stars in the country. Barnes attended UNC, who had a down season after not making the NCAA Tournament in 2010.

Irving attended Duke University, eight miles away from Chapel Hill where they were celebrating Duke’s third national championship.

Barnes was an all-conference player in his two years at UNC. He was drafted as the No. 7 selection in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors.

Irving would have been all-conference during the 2010-2011 season, but his season was cut short due to a toe injury on his right foot. Although Irving played only 11 games as a freshman at Duke, he was the overall No. 1 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.

In 11 games, Irving scored in double-figures including three games with 20 or more points and one 30-point game.

Fast forward to game one of the 2016 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. Both Irving and Barnes played very well.

Irving finished the game with 26 points (7 of 22 from field), four assists, three rebounds and three steals. Irving made 11 of his 12 free throws and he played 38 minutes. Barnes had 13 points and two assists in 30 minutes.

The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 104-89. The damage came from Golden State’s role players rather than their stars.

Although Barnes did not score as much as Irving, he had a great deal of help from Shaun Livingston (20 points, four rebounds, three assists along with making 80% of his field goals), Andre Igoudala (12 points, seven rebounds, six assists), Leandro Barbosa (11 points while shooting 100% from the field) and Andrew Bogut (10 points, three rebounds, two assists). Golden State’s Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 20 points.

Collectively, Curry and Thompson connected on eight of their 27 field goals.

In general, Barnes and Irving are friends. However, during the next week and a half, both players will be enemies vying for an NBA championship.

If Golden State beats Cleveland for a second consecutive year, Barnes has more bragging rights against Irving. There are advantages when your foes are also your friends.

Hopefully, Barnes can earn more bragging rights during the 2016-2017 college basketball season when UNC and Duke square up against one another.