RJ Barrett returns to Raptors after his brother’s death: ‘He was my best friend’

TORONTO — What can you even say?

There is no way to put the grief associated with mourning your younger brother — or son — in the context of professional basketball. RJ Barrett has been back around the Toronto Raptors for five days now after being away for two weeks due to the death of his brother, Nathan.

Outwardly, Barrett has been enjoying his time around the team. There is only so long that you can think about something that makes no sense. Nathan, who went to Montverde Academy like RJ did, was studying aviation. He was going to be a pilot. He was healthy, until he wasn’t. Nathan returned home to Toronto for his last weeks, as RJ put together one of the best runs in his NBA career. Never underestimate a human’s ability to compartmentalize. Basketball, RJ said, is his sanctuary.

That doesn’t change what has happened, though.

“He was my best friend,” RJ said on Friday, his first time speaking publicly since his brother’s death. “I’m always missing him. I still text him. I still call him sometimes. (It’s) just a tough time, but I’m thankful for all the support from everybody.”

There is solace that Barrett got to see his brother before he died. He had played a dynamite game in Denver on March 11, and got word the next morning that Nathan wasn’t doing well. RJ flew back to Toronto, and got to see his brother, who died later that day. No cause of death was disclosed.

“He was the best, man,” RJ said. “I got basketball, but he got everything else. I can’t draw, I can’t do anything else. I can play cards though – I can compete, I’ll tell you that. But he had everything else. Whatever he wanted to do, whatever he put his mind to, he could do.”

RJ, though, did get basketball. He had about six inches on his brother, and did not remember Nathan ever beating him in a game. RJ smiled as he remembered some of the clashes in a manner that anybody with a competitive sibling relationship could appreciate.

“He was really athletic,” RJ said. “He was my little brother and I would beat him at everything. He was always stubborn, really aggressive all the time. He was smaller than me so he kinda had to be that way.

“Oh, he would be mad (when RJ beat him). He would foul me. He would be saying I’m cheating and all that stuff.”

Many members of the Raptors organization attended Nathan’s funeral last week. RJ and his dad, Rowan, the general manager of the Canadian men’s senior team, are known quantities. They have lived in the public eye.

Nathan was behind the scenes, a calming, grounding presence for the Barrett family. That surely came in handy when RJ was the third-overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft for the New York Knicks, not a low-pressure situation by any stretch. There is little stability to be found in the shadow of Madison Square Garden, so having family to provide some of that is crucial.

“I did not have a chance to meet Nathan prior, but just hearing all the stories about him, after leaving the…