Why Will Barton thinks he's playing the best basketball of his career

Will Barton never let himself forget the boos. They came from his own fans after all.

Back in 2018-19, Barton navigated through an injury-riddled season and wasn’t himself during Denver’s first-round series vs. San Antonio. In Game 2, he struggled through a 1-10 shooting night. His home crowd let him know about it.

But that game, that moment, and that series began to shape the next chapter of Barton’s career. It started to change his mindset and view on how he wanted to accomplish his goals. Simply put, he stopped playing to please others.

“That one year that shit happened in the playoffs, that was a blessing in disguise,” Barton said in his 2021 offseason documentary. “I remember after that, I was so fucked up about it. But that summer, it made me go back to the old me. It’s why we came into this shit in the beginning. I never came to please no fans or play for nobody.”

“It’s almost like your parent’s situation. You want to do so good because you want your parents to love you. That’s how I was approaching that shit once I got to Denver and we turned it around. I was like, damn, we turned this shit around. I just want to keep doing good so they can love me, love me, love me. But it don’t go like that, and I’m happy that happened because I can just play free. I can be like, I know they don’t like me. It’s like fuck it. I might as well go out there and do me now instead of going out there and trying to play for them.”

Barton has veered away from that mindset at times over the last couple of years but recalibrated back to it this offseason, which he spent in Miami, honing his game and carefully refining his craft. He was healthy, happy, signed to a fresh two-year contract, and came into training camp with a clear head. It’s led to Barton playing what he declared Wednesday night is the best basketball of his career.

Without Nikola Jokic (suspension), Michael Porter Jr. (mysterious back ailment) and Jamal Murray (ACL recovery) vs. the Pacers, Barton took center stage and turned in one of his best performances as a Nugget: 30 points (11-19 FG’s, 6-9 3 FG’s), 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in 34 minutes.

Denver beat Indiana 101-98, the third-straight win for the 7-4 Nuggets and Barton’s second-consecutive monster performance. Through 11 games, Barton’s averaging career-highs in points (17.5) field goal percentage (49%), 3-point percentage (43.3%) and assists (4.4). Barton’s 13 of his last 18 from 3-point range and has just three turnovers in his last 106 minutes.

Just three players in the NBA are averaging at least 17.5 points and shooting better than 40% from 3-point range, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Kevin Durant, Jokic and Barton

“This offseason, my circle, my family, my closest friends that are with me all the time during this journey just told me I worked too hard to come in here and not just lay it all on the line this season,” Barton said late Wednesday night. “I can’t dumb my game down anymore. I can’t not go out there and be who I am. I’ve put in too much work to come in and not be aggressive every night, not be myself every night. I decided I won’t do it.”

It’s a level of vigor and spirit that the Nuggets need at this precise moment. Denver has who it thinks is the best player in the NBA, but the reigning MVP can’t do it all by himself every single night for 82 games and then again in the playoffs. It’s too wide of a load for any individual player to carry. Porter was supposed to be that relief valve — that hasn’t materialized so far this season — but Barton’s more than fine filling that role.

“Will Barton is playing at the highest level I’ve ever seen him play at,” said Michael Malone. “He’s shooting into a very big basket. He’s living for the moment. He’s defending (Barton leads the Nuggets with 28 deflections this season.) He’s just all-around playing at such a high level, and I’m so happy because for the last two years we haven’t seen that Will Barton due to injuries.”

The Nuggets and Barton haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on everything. Barton was irked and caught off guard by the very public small forward competition between him, Torrey Craig, Juancho Hernangomez, and rookie Michael Porter Jr. that Denver held prior to the 2019-20 season after Barton had started 38 of the 43 games he appeared in the year before. There was tension between the Nuggets and Barton, sources told DNVR, after he left the bubble two seasons ago in an effort to try and find relief from the knee pain that hindered him during the NBA’s restart.

Now, the two sides are firmly on the same page. Barton’s playing at an incredibly high level, which the Nuggets desperately need.

Through 11 games, Barton is the 5th-most efficient pick-and-roll player in the league (minimum 40 pick-and-roll possessions) and is averaging 1.06 points per possession as the pick-and-roll ball handler behind only Jalen Brunson, CJ McCollum, Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell. He’s also shooting 53.7% out of the pick-and-roll this season, good for the 3rd-best mark in the league behind just Brunson and Durant.

Barton’s doing it his way.

“There’s no playing around. There’s no backing down to anyone,” Barton said. “There’s no not being who I truly am anymore. I’m too good of a player to not play his way. I’ve put in too much work to not play this way.”