ng ridden with injuries, Balaji said he was fortunate to having pla

LOS ANGELES -- Harrison Barnes believes he still would be a member of the Golden State Warriors if they had won last seasons NBA championship.However, Barnes knew after his exit interview in the wake of the Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers that he had likely played his final game for the franchise. He described his chances of returning to the Warriors at that point as slim to none, even though Golden State had the right to match any offer he received as a restricted free agent.There were a lot of emotions after a Game 7 loss, said Barnes, who will return to Oracle Arena as a visitor for the first time along with fellow former Warrior Andrew Bogut on Wednesday, when the Dallas Mavericks face Golden State. I think a lot of people were upset, frustrated. And we blew a 3-1 lead. So that was the mindset. I think we knew they were going to blow it up if we lost that series, which we did. I cant say I was surprised.Golden State management informed Barnes during that meeting they would have other priorities in free agency, essentially confirming seasonlong rumors that they planned to pursue Kevin Durant. The Warriors needed to let Barnes leave and move another significant salary in a trade to make room to give the superstar a maximum contract.It was difficult, man, Barnes said. Just because you go back and you watch Game 7 and youre like, Man, its two minutes away from planning a parade or Thank you for your services. It was a pretty big switch.At the end of the day, youve got to put that stuff to the side. I made the decision to go to Dallas. I dont really dwell on that and just move forward.The Mavs signed Barnes to a four-year, $94 million max contract, a move that was questioned by many, considering his pedestrian offensive numbers during his four seasons as a complementary player for the Warriors. He averaged 10.1 points per game during his Golden State stint, including a career-best scoring average of 11.7 points last season.But Barnes has quickly blossomed as a primary option with Dallas, which desperately needs him to be a prolific scorer, since?Dirk Nowitzki?is dealing with health issues. Barnes is averaging 22.3 points per game on 50.8 percent shooting. He already has more 30-plus-point performances for the Mavs (three) -- including consecutive games during the 2-5 Mavs modest winning streak -- than he did for the Warriors (one).Theres a lot more opportunity for me here, said Barnes, who had 31 points on 11 of 18 shooting in Tuesdays 109-97 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The offense is different. Obviously, Im not complaining about my role at Golden State, because we won a lot of games doing that. But in the same regard here, theres just more opportunities to do different things.I love it. As a player, you always want to know what you can do. At the end of your career, you can look back and say, look, I was able to get this much out of my playing career and I was able to become this type of player. I think thats what allows you to sleep well at night. Im getting a chance to see and experience and learn. Obviously, we had a rough start, some growing pains. But Im really looking forward to this situation.Barnes acknowledged that it made sense for the Warriors to pursue Durant, whose arrival gave Golden State three of the leagues most explosive scorers, as the 2013-14 MVP joined two-time MVP Stephen Curry and All-Star Klay Thompson.Bogut, who was traded to Dallas in a salary-dump deal, characterized it as an easy decision for Golden State general manager Bob Myers, despite the Warriors winning the 2014-15 title and setting an NBA regular-season record with 73 wins in 2015-16.Look, you get a chance to get one of the best players in the world, you jump at that chance, Bogut said. If Im the GM, you generally jump at that chance.Obviously, we had a lot of success with the group that we had. We understood our roles. We knew our strengths and our weaknesses each way -- individually and how we needed to lift each other up. But obviously, theyre looking to build for the future too. Theyre trying to build it for the next five or six years and not just the next one or two.The Warriors considered Barnes an insurance policy, as he put it, and would have matched the Mavs offer if Durant had chosen to re-sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Barnes said he considered his exit interview the closing of that chapter of his career.It would have been a little awkward, Barnes said. At a press conference if they would have been like, Yeah, we really wanted him to come [back], no one would really believe that. You know what Im saying?How things went down, like I said, its a business. 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Their 38th instalment is arguably their biggest fight card to date, including three-title fights and a main event which was selected by the fans. The promotion boasts 14-straight years of business and is operated by MFC president Mark Pavelich, who is often overlooked in this country for the foundation hes established for MMA in Canada.India and Tamil Nadu seamer L Balaji will retire from first-class and List A cricket, but has said he will be available for smaller T20 leagues.Balaji will meet TNCA president N Srinivasan later this evening to formally announce his retirement. The TNCA, it is learnt, is keen for Balaji to be bowling coach for the 2016-17 domestic season, a role he also fulfilled in the 2015-16 season. Balaji is expected to take a call after discussing the terms of his contract during his meeting with Srinivasan.I have taken a decision on not playing senior-level cricket any longer in any format. I have asked the TNCA to not pick me for the Tamil Nadu team this season, he told ESPNcricinfo. I am still looking to continue playing the smaller leagues, but lets see how it goes.Balaji, 34, made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2001-02 season, against the Colombo District Cricket Association, and took 37 wickets in his maiden first-class season in India. The following season, he finished as the joint highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy in 2002-03, with 47 dismissals, and went on to make a Test debut in October 2003 against New Zealand in Ahmedabad.Overall, Balaji played 106 first-class matches, taking 330 wickets at an average of 26.10, with 16 five-fors and four ten-wicket hauls. In List A cricket, his record stands at 145 wickets in 100 matches at an average of 29.35. He also captained Tamil Nadu for three seasons - from 2011-12 to 2013-14, with the side reaching the Ranji Trophy final in 2011-12.Balaji picked the spell against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy semifinal in 2002-03 as one of his favourites in his first-class career. Balaji took 5 for 49 in the second innings, and seven in the match, to help Tamil Nadu beat Delhi by 132 runs. I think I have been part of some very interesting matches, he said. I picked up a five-for in the second innings against a team that featured three, four Test players like Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra. My spell of 6 for 24 against Bengal in 2008-09 [Ranji Trophy quarter-final] was also very special.His last first-class appearance came in the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy final, in which Karnataka beat Tamil Nadu by an innings and 217 runs. Before the 2015-16 season, Balaji was named bowling coach and was also picked as a player, though he did not eventually play any first-class matches in the season. His appearances for Tamil Naadu in 2015-16 were limited to four one-day matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.ddddddddddddSince then, Balaji has only played in the inaugural Tamil Nadu Premier League T20 tournament, where he has taken eight wickets so far for Albert TUTI Patriots.Balaji played eight Tests between 2003 and 2005, picking up 27 wickets at an average of 37.18. His best performances in Tests came against Pakistan in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. On the tour of Pakistan in 2004, Balaji took 12 wickets in the three-Test series, including a haul of 7 for 171 in the decisive Rawalpindi Test, which India won to claim the series 2-1.The following year, when Pakistan toured India, Balaji was among the wickets again, ending with 14 wickets in three matches. This included a match haul of nine in the first Test in Mohali, where he also claimed his only five-for in the format.Balaji also played 29 ODIs between November 2002 and August 2005, before suffering a career-threatening stress fracture for which he underwent back surgery. He eventually made a comeback to the Indian side after being picked for the ODIs in Sri Lanka in early 2009, but played only one match in the series.Despite his international career remaining ridden with injuries, Balaji said he was fortunate to having played alongside his childhood heroes. To play alongside bigger brothers like Zaheer [Khan], Ashish [Nehra], Harbhajan [Singh] and Yuvi [Yuvraj Singh]… they have always been looking after me, he said. Also playing with the six legends - Viru [Virender Sehwag ], Sourav [Ganguly], Anil [Kumble] bhai, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman - was a dream come true.I am very indebted to my seniors from my state; I have learnt a lot from every cricketer I have played and interacted with. The TNCA has been very supportive, especially when I had a surgery, and N Srinivasan, especially, backed me. Of course, I am indebted to my family, my wife, my sisters, and my friends, without whom I wouldnt have made this level from being a tennis-ball cricketer.I have made the physios job and the doctors job very tough for a few years, so I would like to thank them for helping me come out of a career-threatening injury. I kept them busy for sometime, and in the end made good friends in a different field.<a href="http://www.chinawholesalejerseysnfl.com/">Wholesale Jerseys</a> ' ' '