Former NBA champion and Sixth Man of the Year Leandro Barbosa says he is retiring from basketball and will join the Golden State Warriors as a player mentor coach.
Barbosa made his announcement on Instagram.
“I guess I am ready for a new beginning, a new road,” he said. “Nevertheless I will continue with the good old orange ball. The transition will be quick, as it always has been to me. It is a great joy to announce my return to the Golden State Warriors as a Player Mentor Coach. I have no doubts I will feel right at home, after all, it was always like that as a player and it has been that way ever since.”
Barbosa played two seasons with the Warriors from 2014-2016 and won a championship in 2015.
He spent the first seven years of his NBA career with the Phoenix Suns, winning Sixth Man of the Year in 2007 when he averaged 18.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game on 47.6 percent from the field and 43.4 percent from three-point.
Barbosa also played briefly for the Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics.
In 850 career NBA games, he averaged 10.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
The 37-year-old was a regular for the Brazilian national team, playing in four FIBA World Cups (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014) and two Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016.