Former Piston Marvin Barnes dies

Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal:

"Barnes, 62, died at a home in Providence, according to one of his dearest friends and old Providence College teammate Kevin Stacom. Stacom said he had been in touch with Barnes’ family earlier today."

The Pistons held the No. 4 pick in the 1976 ABA dispersal draft. Highly coveted Artis Gilmore went No. 1, and Maurice Lucas and Ron Boone followed. That allowed Detroit to pick Marvin Barnes at No 4.

Moses Malone went fifth.

Barnes lasted a little more than a season with the Pistons before they traded him to the Buffalo Braves. He never capitalized on the talent that could have made him an all-time great player, instead let a series of off-court problems derail his career.

I wrote more at ProBasketballTalk on Barnes, whom I’ll always remember for his great quote when the Pistons didn’t give him enough playing time: “News didn’t come here to sit on no wood.”