Quick Facts
Biography
Velvet James "Jim" Barnes (April 13, 1941 – September 14, 2002), also known as "Bad News" Barnes, was an American basketball player.
A 6'8" forward/center, Barnes began his college career at Cameron College (at the time, a junior college). He tallied 28.8 points per game in his freshman year and 30.6 points per game in his sophomore year. He also received NJCAA All-American honors as a sophomore. He then played at Texas Western College before being selected by the New York Knicks with the first pick of the 1964 NBA draft. He was named to the 1965 NBA All-Rookie Team, and played 7 seasons (1964–71) in the NBA with five teams, scoring 3,997 career points.
Rapper Blu named Jim Barnes his cousin in his song titled "Bad News Barnes" off of his 2008 mixtape (So)ul Amazing.