The Sixers feel for injured Raptors star Scottie Barnes, whose bond with that team extends beyond basketball

TORONTO — Chris Boucher stepped onstage for a live taping of Danny Green’s podcast, “Inside the Green Room,” two weeks ago wearing a custom Raptors jacket that complemented his 2019 NBA championship ring.

Though Green was Boucher’s teammate that season, the Sixers wing is unable to rock the same outerwear. Because his jacket, provided by the Raptors — with his name highlighted in yellow on the right sleeve and everything — now belongs to Scottie Barnes, after Green gifted it to the Toronto do-it-all Rookie of the Year finalist when he reached out before the season.

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Barnes’ availability after a nasty sprained ankle suffered in Saturday’s Game 1 continues to hover over this playoff series that the Sixers can finish off with a four-game sweep Saturday afternoon. Barnes did not play in the Sixers’ dramatic 104-101 overtime win Wednesday night to take a commanding 3-0 lead, but Toronto coach Nick Nurse said he would “certainly assume” Barnes will be able to return for Saturday’s Game 4. And though Barnes’ team and the Sixers currently are the fiercest of competitors, Barnes has connections across the court that run deeper than a typical playoff opponent.

“He’s been like a little brother,” Green said of Barnes.

The jacket passed from Green to Barnes represents a bridge between the Raptors’ past, present, and future. As the “other” player involved in the blockbuster Kawhi Leonard trade before the 2018-19 season, Green brought his outside shooting, perimeter defense, and championship pedigree to a team that won its first title in his only season in Toronto. The Raptors then held onto his ring and jacket for more than two years because of pandemic restrictions, a bubble finish to the 2020 season, the Raptors’ relocation to Tampa for 2020-21 season, and Green’s own stint in COVID-19 health and safety protocols for the Sixers’ late December visit.

Green said the newly drafted Barnes sent him a message about the jacket before this season, asking, “Are you really gonna wear it?”

“You know the jacket has, like, my name on it, right?” Green responded.

“I don’t care, man,” Barnes answered. “I need this. I need this in my life.”

“All right, young fella. You can have it, man,” Green conceded.

The gesture, Green said, left Barnes “super hyped.” He wore it April 7 to Scotiabank Arena, when Green finally received his ring and then scored a season-high 18 points on 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range in the Sixers’ 119-114 loss to the Raptors.

“He looked great,” Green said of Barnes’ attire after that game. “He was representing me well.”

And Green is not the only Sixer with a bond with Barnes.

Second-year guard Tyrese Maxey has known Barnes since eighth or ninth grade, while both played on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League AAU club circuit. Then they reunited during All-Star Weekend for the Rising Stars game, where they hilariously struggled as last-minute partners for the “clutch” portion of the event that required them to mimic some of NBA history’s iconic playoff shots. Maxey said he and Barnes have a “great relationship,” and he made sure to check on Barnes just before the tipoff of Game 2.

“We’re going to compete as soon as we step on the court and cross those lines,” Maxey said. “But at the end of the day, you never want to see anybody get hurt. You never want to see anybody get injured. You want everybody to be at 100 percent health and to be able to compete at the highest [level].”

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Even Sixers coach Doc Rivers, who said he typically does not pay much attention to draft prospects, was familiar with Barnes. Because of the potential for a Ben Simmons trade last summer, Rivers studied the 2021 class more extensively.

“He was good on film, but he’s way better, unfortunately, in person,” Rivers said of Barnes before this series began. " … If you saw Scottie Barnes and you didn’t know he was a rookie, you would swear he’s been in the league for 10 years.”

Rivers particularly praised Barnes’ defensive instincts, length and versatility. Before Sixers MVP finalist Joel Embiid inadvertently stepped on Barnes’ foot and sent him to the floor in pain early in the fourth quarter of Game 1, Barnes was closing in on a triple double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Following Wednesday’s Raptors shootaround, Barnes was spotted walking down the hallway to the locker room wearing basketball shoes, a big upgrade from the bulky boot he wore Monday. When asked if he could play that night, Nurse coyly said “maybe,” before sharing shortly before tipoff that Barnes was not quite ready for game action.

Green, meanwhile, said he will wait until after this series to fully check in on Barnes. But he hopes the best for the player — and championship jacket-snatcher — that he now regards as a little brother.

“We don’t want to see anybody hurt,” Green said. “We’re praying for him and his family. But it’s part of the NBA. Guys get hurt every day. Last year, I got hurt. I’ve been a part of teams where we got hurt and [were] not been able to advance, so nobody feels sorry for us. Nobody’s feeling sorry for them.

“It sucks. I hope he’s OK. But when it’s all said and done, I will check on him.”