'Great Teammate, Even Better Person'

By Pete Hooley - NBL Media

In 2018, I walked into a Melbourne United training session hoping to impress enough to claim their last roster spot. 

After being thrown into a gauntlet of non-stop one-on-one contests against superstars like Chris Goulding, David Andersen and Tai Wesley, I must admit, I was resigned to the fact I wouldn't be signed. 

The end of practice came around and down the end of one court Dave Barlow was getting shots up. This guy was one of the most successful Australian basketballers we'd ever seen.

As I walked over to get my bag and leave, he threw the ball to me and said "let’s shoot" ... I’d never met him before that day.

That was the beginning of it all. 

He didn’t have to stay behind to help me, yet he did. That’s just the kind of teammate he was, but perhaps that’s more just the type of person he is. It became so evident to see the joy he would get from seeing others succeed rather than just himself. You don’t find that very often. Not so much a father figure on the team, but more of a big brother. Someone who you could seek out for advice and someone who would do all he could to help you flourish.

I was told by someone before that 2018 season that they expected it could be Barlow’s last if his body didn’t hold up. If I wasn’t there to witness every moment on and off the floor with him that year, I may have believed it. To be part of him adding another ring to his collection was very special, because I could see how much it meant to him. That season he took on the role of leading our bench unit, and it became arguably the best in the league, largely in part to him.

Incredibly, four seasons later, Barlow's still going strong. But for everyone in professional sport, their time comes. It's time to pass the baton and give the next generation their chance. I'm sure every one of those aspiring stars would love to have half the career of the great Dave Barlow - it's been quite the journey. Well done mate! 

Today, I spent some time reflecting with one of Australian basketball's all time greats. 

Pete Hooley: I wasn’t sure this day would actually ever come, but here we are. When did you make the decision to hang the boots up?
Dave Barlow: To be honest, I don’t see this question the way others do. I’ve been so lucky to have basketball as a job for so long and now I’m incredibly fortunate to still be in the world of it as a coach. Hanging the boots up as a player? To be perfectly honest, it’s not happening (laughs), I’m playing NBL1, I’ll still train here (Melbourne United) at times. I’m still a basketball player as I wrote in my post. Opportunities may pop up here and there or they might not. But I’m OK with that. I’m a coach right now and it’s incredibly exciting. To answer your question, that decision will never actually be made, but rather just a natural progression of life and I love that.

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch8qGmKhWFy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch8qGmKhWFy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; 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overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch8qGmKhWFy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by David Barlow (@davidbarlow20)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>

PH: Well segueing from natural progression of life, your career has really come full circle. Starting at Sandringham over 20 years ago, to being back there as player-coach. When you think back to young Barlow wearing a Sabres jersey in 2001, did you ever think you’d play professional for next 20 years?
DB: To be honest, back then I was a cocky little kid at times (laughs), I had a bit of attitude. If you ask anyone who knew me at that age, I’m sure I was a problem to deal with, so apologies to my coaches back then. But I would have told you that "hell yeah that’s exactly what I’m doing and I will do anything to achieve that". Obviously I’m a much more measured person now, but back then I was incredibly stubborn, and no one could really tell me anything that went against my desire to make basketball my life. Now, did I expect that everything would turn out the way it did? No way. I couldn’t have possibly imagined being as fortunate as I have been to experience all that I have for as long as I have. It’s been an unbelievable journey.

Barlow playing for the Sydney Kings in 2006. 

PH: That journey involved 366 games in the NBL with a prominent Europe stint in the middle. Take out the championships, what’s been the major highlight of your career personally?
DB: I think there’s probably some recency bias here now that you’ve got me thinking back to the younger days. For me, it was those periods of poor performance and coming back to perform well. That whole process of improvement and proving people wrong and then succeeding was incredibly satisfying. That’s happened so many times over my career. Back when I was a young kid coming from nothing, just improving. To then proving to people that I can actually do it and succeed. The combination of getting older and coming back from injury and people saying I’m too old and was done. To not only getting back to that level, but to do in with a big contribution to winning, holy moly that’s incredibly satisfying.

PH: People will look back at your resume and think it was all highlights with a lot of winning. But there was low moments, an ACL and then the achilles, how did you manage to navigate those?
DB: I’ve always loved the process. Everyone’s gifted certain attributes. Whether that’s elite shooting or height. Everything we are is an attribute and for me that was loving the process of improvement and working hard. I’m thankful for that. That gift made those times a lot easier. It’s crazy hard the first time you hear the news about an injury. But it’s that moment you start a process to getting back. That journey to becoming the best version of yourself again, I loved it. Yes, it was hard and disappointing. But once I accepted this was the task ahead of me, I was locked in. Every day you see improvements of the hard work the day before is so satisfying when you look at it as one step closer to getting back.

Barlow runs onto the court in 2019.

PH: That lines up to around 2018 and I’ve told you this before. Someone said to me then, that it would probably going to be the last year for you ... coming back off from achilles injury and trying to get back to that level you knew you could play.
DB: The couple of years before that I was told my many people that my career was over. There was no way I could come back from that. But I did. I got back to playing at a high level and we had a lot of team success. So much so that I was rewarded with being named on the national team once again for the World Cup. That whole journey, you probably wouldn’t know it from the outside, but for myself, my wife and family… man it was so damn satisfying. I’ll never forget that feeling.

PH: You could have played 500 games in the NBL, but you left in the middle and headed to Spain. Was Europe something you always wanted to do?
DB: For sure at that time it was. Because guys I looked up to like David Anderson and Matt Neilson had been playing in Europe and were very successful with it. Back then the NBA wasn’t like it is today for Australian basketballers. These day’s it’s really achievable for Aussies to make it to the league. Whereas back then, the people I most looked up to were all about playing in the NBL, then heading to Europe. Combining that with being a constant member of the Boomers, that was like the pinnacle for me.

Barlow representing the Australian Boomers against Team USA in 2019. 

PH: So, the NBA was never on the radar?
DB: No, I never really considered the NBA. I never went there, I never sought that. Obviously if someone had presented an opportunity, I would have taken it (laughs). But I never did a summer league, I never went to try that route. I guess looking back that’s one of the little regrets I have, but I can’t complain with where I’m at in terms of health and happiness. It was always Europe for me, to follow the path of the guys I looked up too. I thought I was good enough, so I wanted to achieve and experience that.

PH:  I know family has always been so important to you, but can you pinpoint a time in your career where it became absolutely everything?
DB: Family? (pauses) From the beginning. From the moment I went to college, Tiwi (Barlow's wife) came with me. It’s always been family.

Man, I’m not really an emotional guy, but certain things just get me. Pride is one, the kids are one. But I guess I’ve never really considered the journey that Tiwi and I have been on. You’ve got me a little bit here …  she’s been with me since day one. You see me point to my family. That started a long, long time ago. It was me and her, by ourselves, all over the world. No one will ever really know about all that. She was my rock. No one could see the struggles or lonely times off the court. Not that there was a lot of struggles, but being all over the world had it’s challenges. You see me on the court, but you don’t see the love, support and stability provided to me by Tiwi. So, from the beginning, I was so very lucky to always have the understanding that there is so much more to basketball. Tiwi provided that for me from day one. Then having kids, it took that to another level, like how beautiful is this journey. So, when did it start? It was always there and it only got more important to me, it’s everything to me.

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs-nezChqWc/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs-nezChqWc/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; 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overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs-nezChqWc/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by David Barlow (@davidbarlow20)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>

PH: You’re a dual Olympian and have been to World Cups. Last year the Boomers win their first medal (at the Olympics). As someone who was part of the foundation, how did that make you feel?
DB: Oh man, it was incredible. I am so lucky to have been part of that culture and team for so long. I’m so proud and grateful for all my Boomers experiences. To share them with such beautiful people, it’s a sense of love in a way. I love that team, that culture, those players, all of it. Watching that bronze medal game, I was so emotional. I was so damn happy. I guess I still am now thinking back. I wasn’t even there but I’m so proud and felt like I was part of it. Feels weird to say that we deserved it (laughs), because that team definitely deserved it. We had fallen short so many times. That 2019 World Cup team was a gold medal team, but that’s the nature of sport that things don’t always go your way. But to see it finally happen in such a beautiful fashion, with Patty (Mills) going off, you see and feel the love, commitment and everything those guys have.

PH: One thing about you that I saw first-hand as a teammate, was you always seemed to have time to help everyone, especially the younger players, with whatever they needed. Is that leadership as a player what led you to wanting to become a coach?
DB: It’s possible ... I think that has kind of evolved in me over time. As a younger player I was just desperate to be the best and hardest worker, no matter what. But as I got older it became me just being desperate to be on the best team. Whatever it took to beat you as a team, that was all that mattered. In that growth and change, with endeavouring to help a team no matter what, was something that came natural to me and I loved it. That kind of painted the picture for me I guess. So yeah, I do love helping others succeed. It takes me back to when I was getting through tough moments, only now I’m the teacher helping others succeed. It’s weirdly similar but different and overall. It just feels right for me and I look forward to being able to this for a very long time hopefully.

Barlow celebrates the 2021 championship at Melbourne United. 

PH: To many players, you were always more than just another teammate. If you could be remembered for one thing from your journey, what would you want it to be?
DB: Woah, I mean above all else I guess a good person. As I said before, there’s so many more important things than basketball, so I would like to be thought of as someone who was a good person above anything else. Back in the day, I didn’t really care about that as a kid, I wanted to be remembered as the best and hardest worker, as I said. If you ask some of my Kings teammates, they possibly would have said that. But as evolving as a person and player, that whole mindset changes. So I guess really just being a good person.

PH: Now I don’t want to bring up any more emotions, because I know how this gets you. The #20 might not be running around in a United jersey anymore, but it will be in a Sabres jersey with your son, Java. What’s it like sitting and watching #20 Barlow still hooping?
DB: Oh man, it’s rough to be honest (laughs). I think I have just got more emotional with age probably. But pride is just one emotion that just gets me. When something happens that I’m proud of, the waterworks just flow, I cant help it. Being in a stadium with everyone watching the kids play and the waterworks start and it’s a bit embrassing to be honest (laughs). But I just can’t help it. It’s such an amazing feeling. To watch my kids grow up and see them navigate life, it’s incredible. Whenever one of my kids comes home from school or tennis or gym, and they’re telling about something they did that day, its overwhelming to be honest. But watching it from the sideline, it’s more emotional than any experience I had as a professional basketballer to be honest.

More than just a five-time champ and so much more than just another teammate. One of the best careers in Australian basketball and no doubt a successful coaching chapter next.

A living legend. Thank you DB.

Pete Hooley and Dave Barlow on-court together at Melbourne United.