JJ Barea literally got chosen out of the crowd to coach his hometown team.

He was spending the summer of 2017 in Mayagüez, where he grew up on the west coast of Puerto Rico. “I always go to those games just for fun,” he said, “just because I played in that league before the NBA.” He had outgrown Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) long ago — this was after his 11th NBA season — but the island’s pro league was still sacred to him.

The Indios de Mayagüez were floundering. They had just fired their coach. As Barea took in one of their games, they hadn’t named a replacement yet. The Mavericks guard was automatically the biggest celebrity in attendance, as nobody else from Mayagüez has ever played in the NBA.

Around that time, he was already thinking about the future — about coaching someda

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