Supporting #Smoke4aCure with Former NBA Champion Matt Barnes

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]A[/dropcap]fter playing for the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons under numerous teams, Matt Barnes finally claimed himself a NBA Championship ring in 2017. Throughout his career, on and off the court, Barnes is certainly no stranger to cannabis. But losing his mother to cancer within a matter of days is what prompted Barnes to launch Athletes vs. Cancer and become more informed about the medical benefits of cannabis.

Kicking off with #Smoke4aCure this week on Thursday in Los Angeles, California, the four-day All-Star Weekend will feature a slew of professional athletes and musical acts spreading awareness about cancer and medical cannabis. This high-profile event is mostly private, with the exception of a limited number of general admission tickets (selling for $350), and the exclusive address for the event will only be provided after the purchase is complete. The event was first conceived as Barnes and Snoop Dogg were smoking together and has grown to become a pillar of altruistic achievement. #Smoke4aCure will be followed by #Bowl4aCure Friday, an AVC Pool Party Saturday and finish Sunday with the crowd favorite Celebrity Flag Football.

CULTURE got a chance to chat with Matt Barnes this weekend about #Smoke4aCure, his career and his reasons for getting into the cannabis industry.

Allstar Weekend begins Thursday, Aug. 9 with #Smoke4aCure featuring Snoop Dogg and yourself. What can we expect?

Thursday you can expect—how should I say—a lot of fun at an educational adult smoking event.

You founded the nonprofit Athletes vs. Cancer. Can you tell us about some of your goals under the organization?

I started the organization in 2008 after I lost my mom to cancer in 2007. She was diagnosed on November the 1 and died on November 27, so it only took 26 days for her to pass. About a year later, I founded Athletes vs. Cancer. We first started off as more of an educational group—knowledge is power, know your body, free health clinics, free health fairs, free screenings and all of that kind of stuff. A few years into that I transitioned into paying for anything cancer-related, whether that be funerals, hospice, services, surgery, medications, backed up bills and pay for anything of that nature. And now, we’re transitioning into a scholarship program that I’m creating for kids who beat cancer and want to go to college.

Have you experienced the healing effects of medical cannabis personally?

No. It happened so fast with her, it wasn’t available. Like I said, she died within 26 days, so there was chemo, radiation and everything and then the next thing you know, she had already passed, so we never even got to that process with her. But I’ve heard tons of stories once I’ve been out speaking about cannabis, so now everyone knows about my foundation, and we’ve heard testimonies in person through the foundation and through Instagram about how cannabis has helped. About how CBD has helped. How the oils have helped. How the creams have helped. So I never got the chance, unfortunately, to help my mom with it, but I’ve heard a lot of other stories.

Last year, you narrowly beat Snoop’s team on Celebrity Flag Football. How far do you and Snoop Dogg go back?

I’ve been a fan of Snoop since, you know, when he came on the scene. But I got a chance to finally meet him when I was at UCLA, probably in 1998, 1999, and we’ve been cool ever since. So we’ve been friends, and then I was doing annual golf tournaments with my summer event for the foundation and just kind of found that my demographic, friends and crowd really aren’t golfers. So I was sitting down with Snoop one day and we were smoking, and we’re both into football. We both love football to death. And I was like, “Let’s do a game.” And he was with it, and five years later, we’re still doing it.

“. . . I’ve heard tons of stories once I’ve been out speaking about cannabis, so now everyone knows about my foundation, and we’ve heard testimonies in person, through the foundation and through Instagram about how cannabis has helped. About how CBD has helped. How the oils have helped. How the creams have helped.”

So it was both of you that came up with the idea?

We were just sitting down chilling and that’s how it worked out.

Are there any surprise guests planned for next weekend?

Man, we have Lil Duval performing his hit song. 2 Chainz is confirmed. We’re reaching out to Tommy Chong and his team, Seth Rogen, Willie Nelson. So we’re reaching out to a lot of legendary smokers. We want to make it a really cool event. Obviously, having Snoop involved is amazing and he’s a legendary smoker himself. So we’ve been reaching out to as many of our friends as possible to make this a cool gathering for a great cause.

You played 14 seasons in the NBA. Are the rumors true? Is cannabis as prevalent in the NBA as you and others have said?

Yes. Not only in the NBA but across professional sports as a whole. I think it’s prevalent. I think it’s unfortunate that it’s stereotyped and deemed a drug that you get into trouble for, when there’s so many benefits to it. Not only smoking the cannabis, but the CBD, the pills, the creams and all that other stuff. My goal is that I teamed up with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for the first-ever athletes-funded research program, and through the help of UCLA, our goal is get it legalized in professional sports. So we’re building a strong team over there at UCLA. We’re getting all of our information together for the NBA and the NFL.

Did you ever feel judged for consuming cannabis in the NBA?

Not really. I was never really out there with it while I played. I had a few teammates here and there that I smoked with at times. But for the most part, as with anything else, there comes a responsibility with it. So I wasn’t going around to place high, smelling like weed, anything like that. So I never really ran into any criticism outside of getting in trouble with the NBA a few times.

You’ve got plenty of other investments and partnerships underway. One being that you’re the co-owner and ambassador for HUE for Every Man, providing cosmetics for men of all colors. You’ve said that you want to become a billionaire by age 50. How do you plan on doing that?

Just like you said, through several different revenue streams. I have three companies right now that are turning in revenue. The fourth, HUE, will start turning over revenue shortly. So I have four companies that I’m involved in. I’m on three boards now for cannabis companies. So I’m getting percentages of those companies to direct and guide the brand, and also consume their products. I also sell my own pre-roll line that we’re launching in the next month or so. I’m continuing to be all over the place with my interests and investments. Seeing that they’re starting to return revenue is amazing.

“. . . As with anything else, there comes a responsibility with [cannabis]. So I wasn’t going around to places high, smelling like weed, anything like that.”

Does the pre-roll line have a name yet?

It’s from a company called Seven Leaves, out of my hometown in Sacramento. We’re doing four different pre-rolls. Usually people knock down pre-rolls as being filled with garbage, the bottom-of-the-bag-weed.

We’re not doing that here. We have all high-quality. But I’m doing it from an educational standpoint. I have four joints throughout the day that I smoke and I explain why I smoke them. I start with the Wake & Bake, which is a sativa strain that I smoke and I explain why I do it. Then I do a Post Workout, which is around lunchtime, which is going to be a hybrid that’s sativa-dominant, and I explain why I do it. Then I have a Happy Hour, another hybrid, just a little bit stronger. And then we have the Night Cap, which is called Loaded Dreams, which is the end of the night, a heavy indica that will put you down. I find, as an athlete, that I have to be careful in the way that I present myself and the way I speak because I am watched by kids and I have kids of my own. I try to take the word “high” away. That’s what scares people. I make it more educational and explain why I use it, to give people a better understanding before they judge.

It will have the name of the strain on the container, but I’ll explain why I use it and when I use it.

How did it feel getting that NBA championship ring?

It was a little bittersweet for me. From my standpoint, winning a championship is all that mattered. I accepted less money to play on better teams to win. I was fortunate enough to end up on the Warriors my final year. I played well. I had a severe ankle injury. I almost broke my ankle about a week before the playoffs. It was a blessing that I got a chance to experience and get a ring, but it was disheartening that I wasn’t healthy enough to actually play and be out there with my teammates competing for that ring. For me, even though I’ve bounced around my whole career, I always played, I always started, so I was always in the mix. For the first time really, in like 10 years, I didn’t get a chance to play and be out there. I’m one of those guys who never had a handout. I don’t accept handouts and I kind of felt like it was handed to me. With that team, I don’t really personally count it as a championship.