Leandro Barbosa to join Sacramento Kings as assistant coach

The Golden State seeds continue to spread in Sactown.

The Sacramento Kings will acquire another member of the Golden State Warriors’ coaching staff as player development coach Leandro Barbosa joins Mike Brown as an assistant up the highway, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported this weekend.

Barbosa was a member of the 2015 Golden State Warriors championship roster, and played both in the NBA as well as overseas for nearly two decades. After retiring in 2020, Barbosa immediately joined the Warriors as a member of their coaching staff, honing in on player development for Steve Kerr’s illustrious squad.

Should no movement take place, Harrison Barnes will have a familiar face on the coaching staff as he and Barbosa were teammates with the Warriors during their 2015 championship run. The Golden State ties grow increasingly as Brown grows his staff to reflect the elite caliber of standard that he was firm on setting in his introductory press conference last month.

The 2007 Sixth Man of the Year can bring valuable developmental assets to the guard rotation on this new-look Kings team, specifically working with De’Aaron Fox, Davion Mitchell and rookie Keegan Murray.

The tandem of Doug Christie and Barbosa as assistant coaches brings a level of NBA experience to Sacramento’s sidelines that reflects today’s game more than any other. Having been in the league so recently, Barbosa’s development and stamina with this group of young players shouldn’t feel stale, and breathe morale into the team that we saw with Christie’s entrance to the coaching role last season.

It will be interesting to see Barbosa elevate from a developmental coach to an assistant, as he will be more vocal in-game, while the Kingdom can assess how his impact affects the players.

Any time a team can add a champion in any capacity, it brings another level of excellence to the organization at large.