The fourth-year baller, Scottie Barnes, is definitely in the league to stay longer. The rising star kick-started his career for the Toronto Raptors with a Rookie of the Year Award run. Following that, the forward has had steadily advancing performances in each passing season. Currently, playing in a roster that had sent out every single piece from the 2019 championship run, Barnes indeed has a huge role to play on the Up North team.

Apart from the action on the court, hoops fans are also interested in a player’s ethnicity and background. This is because of the league’s open-hand approach to representing multiple cultures. Along the same lines, let’s find out more about the rising star forward’s ethnicity.

Where is Scottie Barnes from? Exploring the roots of the Toronto Raptors star

Scottie Barnes Sr. and Kathlyn Wilkins welcomed Scottie Barnes to the world on August 1, 2001, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Just like most of the kids in the country, Barnes Jr. also picked the basketball very early in life. Without a doubt, the kid was great with the ball, eventually making his parent’s life easier without worrying about his career options. Well, it wasn’t that simple for Barnes, growing up with a lot of obstacles amid his parents’ separation.

Before we know more about Barnes’ challenging early years, let’s explore his roots. Even though the star forward was born in Florida, his roots trace back to one of the Caribbean islands, Jamaica, via his father. Meanwhile, the star’s mother Wilkins is an American native with an African-American ethnicity.

Even though Barnes Jr. and his mother Wilkins have moved away from his father after their separation, the Raptors forward don’t seem to have left his Jamaican touch. Despite moving to Canada, a bit far away from his Caribbean roots, he seemed to have found his way out. In an interview during his rookie season, responding to a question, about whether he had been to Canada before, Barnes Jr. said, ” No, I had never been there before, but I know I have family out there, a lot of my Jamaican family is out there on my dad’s side, so I know there’s a lot of people that’s like Jamaican out there and so I have family out there as well.”

Barnes grew up in a household in which his parents had a lot of conflicts. A report even stated that the star forward would rush to his mom to console her whenever there was an issue. And eventually ended up staying with his mother. He has a very close bond with his mother, which is very reflective of his social media activities. On the other hand, there isn’t much information available about his father on the internet.

Has Scottie Barnes represented Jamaica in the international forum? 

To answer this question plain and simple, no, Scottie Barnes hasn’t represented the Jamaican team. Notably, the 23-year-old has had a stacked balling career since his high school days, leaving him with no choice other than improving his own game. However, he has represented Team USA in the international forum multiple times since his teenage.

Amid his explosive high school stint for Cardinal Newman High School, averaging 19.2 ppg and 6.5 rpg, he extended his support to Team USA under-16. More importantly, he also helped the team win the 2017 FIBA Americas U16 Championship with a 5-0 record. Following that, he represented the under-17, and won the gold medal at the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup, averaging 9.5 ppg and 5.8 rpg. He didn’t stop at that. He also represented the under-19 team in the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup and guess what? Barnes helped the team win gold in this as well.

However, he has yet to make it to the cut for the senior level. Following his debut in the 2021-22 season everyone expected Scottie Barnes to make it to the senior roster for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Since it was built in such a way to focus on the youth movement, Barnes undoubtedly became a default candidate with his ROYT award. Surprisingly, he didn’t even make it to the final 14 roster.

Unfortunately, the young roster suffered an embarrassing loss, igniting the fire for the Avengers lineup. So, the bottom line is that Scottie Barnes is yet to play for Team USA’s senior team. At the same time, he hasn’t represented the Jamaican side either.

Currently, playing in his fourth season for the Raptors, Barnes hasn’t had a positive start. Three games into the season, he suffered an orbital fracture after receiving an elbow blow from Nikola Jokić. Following that, he missed 11 straight games and finally made his return with a new look, sporting goggles. So, will this new-look Barnes find a spot on the American national side for the next World Cup? Let us know in the comments below.