José Juan Barea Mora (born June 26, 1984) is a Puerto Rican basketball coach and former player. He played college basketball for the Northeastern Huskies before joining the Dallas Mavericks in 2006 and becoming the seventh Puerto Rican to play in the NBA. He went on to win an NBA championship with the Mavericks in 2011 before signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he played for the next three seasons before returning to Dallas. He has also played in the NBA Development League and the Baloncesto Superior Nacional.
Barea was a member of the Puerto Rican national team that won the gold medal in the 2006 and 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games. He was the starting point guard for Puerto Rico when they won the gold medal in the 2011 Pan American Games and the silver medal in the 2007 Pan American Games.
Barea served as head coach of Mets de Guaynabo of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) in 2024 and 2025.
Early life Barea was born in the municipality of Mayagüez in the west coast of Puerto Rico in 1984 to parents Marta (née Mora) and Jaime Barea. With a father who was an engineer and a mother who was a retired professor as well as volleyball and tennis coach, he grew up in an upper-middle-class neighborhood of Mayagüez. Barea was a member of Boy Scouts of America Troop 790 for seven years. He graduated from Academia de la Inmaculada Concepción high school.
In 2001, Barea started playing basketball for Indios de Mayagüez of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). Later that year, he moved to Florida to attend high school at Miami Christian School in Miami, Florida. As a senior in 2001–02, he averaged 20 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals in helping his team to the state title and a 38–2 record. He made a name for himself nationally at the City of Palms event in December 2001 where he was the team's leading scorer and showcased an accurate shot from three-point range. In April 2002, he enrolled at Northeastern University.
After attending Northeastern University, Barea returned to Puerto Rico to rejoin Indios de Mayagüez for the 2002 BSN season; there, he averaged 2.8 points in 14 games.
College career As a freshman playing for the Northeastern Huskies in 2002–03, Barea earned third-team All-America East Conference (AEC) and AEC All-Rookie team honors, after averaging a conference-leading 17 points to go along with 3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.9 steals in 28 contests. He became the first freshman in Husky basketball history to record 400 points and 100 assists in a season and accrued a team-high 25 games of scoring in double-figures.
As a sophomore in 2003–04, Barea earned First Team All-America East honors after finishing second in that conference for both scoring (20.7 ppg) and assists (5.8 apg) and becoming the first Husky since Reggie Lewis in 1986–87 to average at least 20 points per game.
As a junior in 2004–05, Barea ranked second in the America East and eighth in the country in scoring (22.2 ppg); he also led the conference and was fifth in the nation in assists (7.3 apg). He later earned first-team All-AEC honors for the second consecutive year. Further, he placed third in assists (218), fourth in three-pointers (68), and sixth in points (665) on Northeastern's single-season charts, and tied the school record with a career-high 41 points against the Stony Brook Seawolves. He was also named a finalist for the illustrious Bob Cousy Award.
As a senior in 2005–06, Barea was named Honorable Mention All-America by The Associated Press, the Player of the Year in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), first-team All-CAA, first-team NABC All-District One, and Mid-Major Player of the Year by CollegeInsider.com. He led Northeastern and finished third in the nation in assists (8.4 apg), and he finished 19th in the nation in scoring (21.0 ppg). Barea was yet again named a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award. Barea finished his collegiate career as the school's second all-time leading scorer, with 2,209 points behind Reggie Lewis, and he left Northeastern as its second all-time leader in assists, with 721, and its leader in three-point field goals made (255).
Post-college In April 2006, Barea had a productive performance at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in Virginia, finishing with averages of 14.0 points, 13.7 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game in three contests. Barea broke the single-game and single-tournament assist records, as he dished out 18 assists for Beach Barton Ford in a 118–100 victory over Norfolk Sports Club, giving him 41 assists in three games. For his efforts, Barea received the tournament's first Allen Iverson A.I. award, given to the player deemed most important to his team.
Professional career
Cangrejeros de Santurce (2006) After the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, Barea returned to Puerto Rico to join Cangrejeros de Santurce for the 2006 BSN season, where he averaged 10.4 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.8 rebounds over 9 games.
Dallas Mavericks (2006–2011)
2006–09: early years After going undrafted in the 2006 NBA draft, Barea joined the Golden State Warriors for the 2006 Las Vegas Summer League where in five games, he averaged 6.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 2 steals in 21.4 minutes per contest. He then joined the Dallas Mavericks for the Rocky Mountain Revue where in three games, he averaged 12.0 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 6.7 assists in 25.0 minutes per game.
On August 17, 2006, Barea signed a multi-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks. On November 4, 2006, he made his regular season debut for the franchise, recording two points in two and a half minutes of action during a 76–107 loss to the Houston Rockets.
On January 17, 2007, Barea was assigned to the Fort Worth Flyers of the NBA Development League. On January 29, he was named the D-League Performer of the Week after he topped 40 points in two different games while leading the Flyers to a 3–1 record. On February 1, 2007, he was recalled by the Mavericks after he averaged 27.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 7.8 assists, and 1.3 steals in eight D-League games.
On April 13, 2007, Barea recorded a season-high 16 points in an 89–104 loss to the Utah Jazz. Four days later, he started his first career game for the Mavericks in which he contributed 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists during an 82–111 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Barea finished his rookie season with averages of 2.4 points, 0.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 0.7 steals in 33 regular season games. He also played two playoff games for the Mavericks, scoring 0 points in three and a half total minutes.
In July 2007, Barea re-joined the Dallas Mavericks for the 2007 Las Vegas Summer League, where in five games, he averaged 16.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 7.0 assists in 27.6 minutes per game.
On November 3, 2007, he recorded a then career-high 25 points in a 123–102 victory over the Sacramento Kings. He went on to appear in 44 regular season games (with 9 starts) for the Mavericks in 2007–08 while averaging 4.3 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 10.5 minutes per game. He also managed one playoff game where he contributed eight points against the New Orleans Hornets.
On July 9, 2008, Barea re-signed with the Dallas Mavericks to a three-year deal. In 2008–09, Barea's role on the team increased dramatically. Injuries to Jerry Stackhouse, Josh Howard, and Jason Terry saw Barea's minutes per game double as coach Rick Carlisle began regularly using a three-guard lineup which included Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, and Barea to spark an offensive streak in games. On February 20, 2009, Barea scored a then career high 26 points during an 86–93 loss to the Houston Rockets.
In the 2009 playoffs, Barea became a starter during the first round, replacing Antoine Wright in an effort to contain Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs. He put up 13 points and added 7 assists in his first playoff start.
2009–11: first championship In the 2009–10 season, Barea again played an important role off the bench for the Mavericks. Over 78 games (with 18 starts), he averaged 7.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 19.8 minutes per game. He scored a season-high 23 points twice during the season and played in all six of the Mavericks' playoff games, where they once again fell to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round.
In June 2010, the Mavericks exercised their $1.8 million 2010–11 team option on Barea's contract. In 2010–11, Barea played a career-high 81 regular season games, averaging 9.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in 20.6 minutes per contest. On January 1, 2011, he scored a then career-high 29 points in an 87–99 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
In the second round of the 2011 playoffs, the Mavericks faced off against the defending champions, the Los Angeles Lakers. During the second game of the series, Barea converted 12 points coming off the bench to lead a fourth-quarter rally that secured the 93–81 win for Dallas. With the game already decided and 24 seconds remaining, Barea was clotheslined by Lakers' Center Andrew Bynum for which Bynum was subsequently suspended. After the game, the Lakers praised Barea's performance with Phil Jackson even comparing him to star point guard Chris Paul, while Kobe Bryant went on record saying that "Barea kicked our asses".
The Mavericks won the final game of the series to advance past the Lakers. Barea was the second-leading scorer for his team, putting up 22 points to go along with 8 assists. At one point in the fourth quarter, Barea had darted down the lane and was in midair about to finish a layup when Lakers' center Andrew Bynum threw him an elbow; the flagrant foul caused Barea to fall down hard and Bynum to be immediately ejected. Barea recovered, however, and played the rest of the game. He called the foul "dangerous". Initially Bynum was unapologetic about the incident, saying, "We were getting embarrassed. They were breaking us down. So I just fouled somebody." He later issued a formal apology to the league and to Barea. The NBA suspended Bynum for the first five games in the next season in consequence, but later shortened the suspension to four games due to the lockout-shortened season.
The Mavericks advanced to the NBA Finals where they faced the Miami Heat led by the trio of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Lebron James. Coach Rick Carlisle decided to start Barea when they were down 1–2 in the series. Barea became a key player, being instrumental in changing the dynamic of the entire series and winning the next three games. The Mavericks defeated the Heat 4 games to 2 and so claimed their first NBA championship in franchise history. Barea became the second Puerto Rican player to ever win an NBA championship, following Butch Lee in 1980. Barea started in three of 21 playoff games that he played for the Mavericks, while averaging 8.9 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 18.6 minutes per game.
Minnesota Timberwolves (2011–2014)
After failed negotiations to re-sign with the Mavericks, Barea began looking elsewhere, but, because of the NBA lockout, he was unable to sign with another franchise. On December 14, 2011, following the conclusion of the lockout, Barea signed a four-year, $19 million contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.