Fate is a complex concept.
Maybe you believe in it, thinking something beyond your worldly perception is pulling you in a certain direction. Perhaps you’re skeptical, steadfast in the belief that your destiny is what you make it.
Dominick Barlow is quick to dismiss it.
“I don’t believe in fate at all,” he told Liberty Ballers at his locker last week. “I think in life — and this is not just for basketball, for anything — you get a very small window to do something special. And when you don’t take the
opportunity, it usually never comes around again.”
Barlow poured his heart and soul into becoming an NBA player while continuously betting on himself. The events that led to him accomplishing his lifelong goal are atypical, to say the least
How Barlow went from being discovered on a random basketball court in a park to starting games for the Philadelphia 76ers is the stuff of a sports movie script.
“When I tell his story,” Kenny Mortoral, Barlow’s high school coach, said, “I tell people, this is a Hollywood story.”
Like many classic tales of triumph, this story starts in New Jersey.
‘Once you put the basketball in his hands, you weren’t getting it out’
Barlow, who goes by Dom, grew up in Dumont, New Jersey. He was an only child, raised by a single mother, Theresa Barlow. Theresa’s father, Tim, was also a big part of Dom’s life — literally and figuratively. Dom, listed at 6-foot-9, benefited genetically from his grandfather, who could be an imposing figure on the sideline of games.
“Grandpa never talks,” Mortoral, who coached Dom at Dumont High School, said in a phone interview. “Grandpa’s this big German guy. He’s ginmorous. I’m nervous around him.”
In many ways, Dom and his grandfather are kindred spirits. Theresa, who was Tim’s only child, affectionately says Dom is the son her father never had.
In media availabilities, there’s a calmness to Dom’s voice. It’s deep, with the bass in it standing out the lower he speaks. His intelligence is obvious when you watch how he plays and hear how he talks about the game. His self-awareness is a trait clear to anyone who speaks with him for more than a few minutes. He’s a team player, through and through, but he’s also confident in his own abilities.
Much of this seems ingrained in him by his grandfather.
“He was like the male father-figure in my life,” Dom said. “He doesn’t say much. Really keeps to himself. … When I was growing up, just playing at the park, he’d always take me and watch me play with other kids. He just instilled playing sports and that aspect of my life. Being a part of a team — he was always super big on that.”
Theresa claims none of those traits came from her, but Dom will tell you his mother’s parenting style is really what shaped him. Theresa was big on letting her son make his own decisions. Sometimes he made missteps, which helped him learn and forge his own path.
“I wanted him to experience life and make some mistakes,” she said in a phone interview with LB, “then you pick yourself back up and you become a better person.”
Even when it came to sports, Theresa never pushed basketball, despite Dom always standing out for his height. She signed him up for every sport she could. From there, he could decide which ones he enjoyed.
“I told him, please just try everything once,” Theresa said. “If you want to quit, I have no problem pulling you out, but I want you to experience everything you can. Once you put the basketball in his hands, you weren’t getting it out. He loved it. He took to it right away.”
Something clicked around third grade, the first year Theresa says Dom had access to organized basketball. He remembers the father of one of his friends being a coach and making the game seem more fun. But the biggest thing he remembers from that time was sitting down and watching his first professional game — the 2012 NBA All-Star Game.
Before the All-Star Game devolved into whatever it is now, there were a few epic ones back in the day. The 2012 edition featured peak versions of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, amongst many others. The West pulled out a 152-149 victory and the late Kobe Bryant took home MVP honors at Amway Center in Orlando.
At that point, Dom was hooked. From there, he took the sport more seriously and began his path toward becoming an NBA player — even telling his mom of his intentions not too long after.
“I think he told me once when he was 10 or 11, he said, ‘Mom, I’m going to be an NBA player,’” Theresa recalled, “and I said, ‘OK, yeah, sure you are.’ Every kid says that.”
Little did she know the basketball odyssey her son would embark on.
‘Grandpa, he’s gotta shoot the ball!’
Barlow’s upbringing was mostly typical. He’s kept a lot of the same friends from his youth.
When it was time to go to high school, Barlow had a difficult choice to make — stay close to home or go to a private high school, furthering his pursuit of chasing a basketball career. He chose the latter, and soon the first true obstacle on his path arose.
Barlow went to Saint Joseph High School in Metuchen, roughly an hour away from Dumont. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn labrum, which derailed his freshman season. Feeling homesick, Barlow made the decision to come back home and attend Dumont High School.
While it wasn’t a hotbed for basketball talent, Dumont had something St. Joe’s simply couldn’t offer — a chance to be closer to his friends and family.
“Me and my friends, we were hype, man,” Justin Guzman, who’s been friends with Barlow since kindergarten, said in a phone interview. “We had Dom back, not really for our basketball team — just so we could see him every day, have fun, just like how things used to be when we were younger.”
Guzman remembers Barlow’s first day. The two were wrestling in the hallways, as teenage boys are wont to do, when a teacher approached them, asking Barlow what they were doing.
According to Guzman, Barlow looked the teacher in the eye and deadpanned, “We’re fighting.” It got a good laugh out of his friends. It also got him a trip to the principal’s office on his first day and a stern, “Is this going to be a regular occurrence, Mr. Barlow?”
But that was the extent to which Barlow got into trouble. On the basketball court, he thrived. With his size and athleticism, he was easily the best player on his team, a fact not lost on his coach at the time. Martoral had known Barlow since the lanky forward was 11.
Right away, Martoral knew Barlow was destined for bigger things. While Barlow was unselfish, happy to fill whatever role the team needed, Martoral wanted him to be more. He didn’t want Barlow to play on the block like a big, which likely would’ve been the case at St. Joe’s. He wanted Barlow to expand his game, face the basket and play like he was the best player on the court — because on most nights, he was.
“His junior year, there was one game where I’m in the hallway and I’m just tearing into him,” Martoral said. “And I’m like, ‘Stop passing the ball! You’re the best player. I need you to dominate the game.’ He said, ‘Coach, I’m trying to get everyone going.’ … Grandpa was in there and I go, ‘Grandpa, he’s gotta shoot the ball!’ Grandpa never talks. … He’s this 6-foot-9 German guy, and I never heard him speak. … He goes, ‘He needs to shoot the ball, Coach. And that’s what I tell him.’”
That offseason, Martoral decided he’d make Barlow his point guard, giving him a jumbo-sized playmaker a la Magic Johnson, the coach’s favorite player. It set up what was supposed to be an exciting senior year, where Barlow would have a chance to be one of the best players in the state and start a recruiting invasion to Dumont.
Alas, COVID cut his season to just eight games, adding a new hurdle in Barlow’s basketball journey. With the world shut down, Martoral had to get creative to find ways for his team to practice. So, he took his squad to a random court in the woods outside of Dumont — a risky move for oh so many reasons.
“We’re not allowed to practice in the gym,” Martoral said. “So, we have to find a secluded place somewhere in another town. My AD said ‘I can’t see you in the town, so find somewhere else.’”
But without those practices, Barlow might not have come to the attention of Oz Cross, the man who set him up for the most integral part of his basketball quest.
‘This guy literally found a diamond in the rough’
Cross often attends high school tournaments in the New York and New Jersey areas. Sometimes, there are different tiers of games happening. For instance, Court 1 would have the best prospects, which would be the court he’d likely be most interested in as the executive director of the New York Rens, a high-level AAU program.
One day, he noticed a tall kid with bleached blonde hair playing on Court 4. Something drew Cross to him. He moved fluidly for his size and appeared to still be growing into his body. He called around after, asking about this player from Dumont, but everyone said the kid wasn’t on Cross’ level.
“Where we live,” Cross said over the phone, “there are no basketball players in our area.”
Cross moved on and didn’t pursue it any further.
A couple weeks later, Cross was at home when he decided to get his kids out of the house. It was the height of COVID, so they were restless and it was a moment for their mom to get a break. He decided to take them out to a basketball court in the woods.
And who should he see but the tall kid with bleached blonde hair, practicing with his team. Cross approached his coach and the two began talking. That was when Martoral talked to Cross about Barlow, who only got to play in eight ridiculously dominant games for Dumont that season, averaging 27.6 points, 17 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.6 blocks per game.
When Cross watched Barlow, he saw a kid he thought could play with his 17U team.
“This guy literally found a diamond in the rough in Dom,” Martoral said. “And the minute they met, it took off.”
Cross asked Barlow if he was interested in training with him and playing for the Rens in New York.
Of course he was.
And there it was, the biggest break Barlow had gotten yet. Not from playing at St. Joe’s or dominating at Dumont, but by Cross taking his kids out of the house to get out of his wife’s hair for a minute.
But Barlow had something to do first — convince his mom to let him go to New York.
“He came home to me and said, ‘A guy came up to me in the park and wants to take me to New York with him,’” Theresa said. “And I was like, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. What’s happening?’ And he tried to explain the story to me. And I said, ‘No, no, you can’t trust these people! No, this is a crazy person! There’s no team!’”
Cross persisted, believing there was something special about Dom. For a while, Theresa was playing gatekeeper — as any protective mother would — not letting her son return Cross’ calls.
Eventually, it turned into another time Theresa would trust her son to map out his basketball path. With a little help from Martoral, she relented and Dom was New York-bound.
“So, we took him out to Long Island, and the first day, he didn’t really do too much except just rebound and just play hard and finished,” Cross said. “And I was like, man, he’s actually not that far from these guys. … I mean, he played basketball, but this is like a higher level. These kids are top-50 [recruits] in the country.”
Cross said Barlow worked with his coaches and trainers every day in the gym and just continued to get better and better. It’s also where Barlow said his current versatile and unselfish style of play took shape.
“When I played AAU basketball as a senior, my team was really good,” he said, “and nobody really knew me, so that’s how I played at first. So, I just know you have to be a role player first before you can get the keys.”
After helping the Rens during a successful run at Peach Jam, which is the championship tournament for the EYBL (Elite Youth Basketball League), Barlow was suddenly flooded with recruiting offers.
Schools like Pitt and Providence were interested. While Barlow seriously considered playing for the likes of Jeff Capel and Ed Cooley, he was a bit overwhelmed. After such little interest during his early high school days, Barlow was suddenly a hot commodity. A process which is supposed to be fun for a young athlete became arduous. And being who he is, Barlow talked to any school with interest.
“It just all happened super late,” he said. “So I never really got a chance to process it.”
Instead of going right to college, Barlow planned to spend one year at Bridgton Academy in Maine. It would give him the chance to make up for the time he lost to COVID and give prospective schools another chance to look at him. After that, he would assess his next steps.
But sometimes, things don’t go as planned.
‘I changed my mind. I’m doing this Overtime thing’
Barlow could’ve gone to Bridgton. He would’ve been able to show off his ability to be a Swiss Army knife after his run with the Rens. That could’ve opened the recruiting process even more and given Barlow ample time to make the right decision about which school to attend.
“I definitely thought he was an NBA player,” Cook said, “but I thought he would go to prep school for a year and then do two or three years of college. That was the plan I thought he’d be on.”
He could’ve gone to college and played at a Power Four school. Maybe he would’ve experienced the NCAA Tournament. Perhaps he would’ve enjoyed the experience so much that he would’ve stayed beyond a year.
But again, fate (or whatever you want to call it), intervened.
Cross took Barlow with him to Los Angeles. The purpose of the trip was for one of Cross’ other players to visit UCLA. Barlow was more along for the ride, but they attended one of Rico Hines’ Runs. The now-famous scrimmages are put together by the current Sixers assistant coach, who was with the Sacramento Kings at the time.
“I don’t know if you should put this in (the story),” Cross said, “but he didn’t play the first day and he was so mad. I was like, ‘Dude, you’re here as a guest, man. These are NBA players.’ He played the second day and he was running up and down with the NBA guys.”
Tim Fuller had spent over two decades in the assistant coaching ranks, serving under guys like Cooley and Rick Pitino. Around this time, he was the VP of recruiting and player personnel for a new league called Overtime Elite, which featured players aged 16-20 years old.
Fuller and Cook knew each other well. While Cook was out in L.A. with Barlow, Fuller called with an opportunity. There was one spot left for OTE — why not give it to Dom?
Everything was in place for Barlow to go to Bridgton. They had housing set up and they were ready to move him in.
After several conversations with Cross, Barlow couldn’t get the idea of playing for Overtime Elite out of his head. So, again, at age 18, Theresa let her son trust his gut and make his own decision. It worked with Cook and the Rens. Why not let him continue to forge his own path?
“We actually drove up, we did official visits and everything, and he was ready to go,” Theresa said, “but then, all of a sudden, ‘I changed my mind. I’m doing this Overtime thing.’ And we took it in stride. It was tough. It was tough for me, my father … going into the unknown, but we ultimately said he has to take his own path and see where it takes him.”
There was plenty of risk involved. This was a brand new league. They did manage to score some big-time recruits, like Amen and Ausar Thompson, but was Overtime Elite a viable path to Barlow’s NBA goal?
The experience was greatly beneficial. He became a pro, learning how to treat basketball like a job and getting ample time to refine his game.
“I kind of learned what the professional day-to-day schedule kind of looks like,” Barlow said. “I was in the gym all day working out. Great teammates. It was a really fun atmosphere there. I wouldn’t change that for the world. I loved my time there.”
Though he was supposed to spend two years in the league, he made another bold decision to enter the 2022 NBA Draft.
There were draft experts who believed Barlow would get taken in the second round. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out that way. Whether it was difficulty evaluating Barlow in a new league or his sort of meteoric rise seemingly out of nowhere, 59 names were called — including current teammates Jabari Walker and Tyrese Martin — and Barlow’s wasn’t one of them.
Of course, there was disappointment. Barlow hosted a draft party with friends and family, only for him not to be selected. That feeling didn’t last long, though. Barlow disappeared from the party with his agent, who was on the phone with the San Antonio Spurs.
Sure, every kid dreams of hearing their name called on draft night, but there’s something special in one of the most respected organizations in the sport wanting you.
“He had his Spurs hat on and I had no idea what happened because I think I was in a back room with my friends falling apart,” Theresa said. “There’s a video of us — I’m crying, he’s crying, everybody’s crying — once I realized this is OK, everything is going to be OK.”
‘Failure is the key to success in life’
Barlow spent his first year on a two-way contract, playing in just 28 NBA games with the Spurs in 2022-23. Midway through his second season, San Antonio converted him to a standard deal. His playing time was still sparse during the 2023-24 season, but he did enough for the Atlanta Hawks to bring him in on a two-way deal the following season. And yet again, midway through last season, Barlow was converted to a standard contract.
Heading into free agency this past offseason, Barlow seemed like a guy who was good enough for a standard deal. Despite playing in 96 NBA games, he’d just turned 22. His size, athleticism and basketball IQ were on display in his two previous stops.
So, it was a bit of a surprise to see the Sixers snag Barlow on a two-way contract. The reality is he could’ve gotten a standard NBA contract, but looking at the Sixers’ recent history with two-way players, many have gotten opportunities because of the team’s horrendous injury luck and parlayed that into standard deals. The previous year, both Justin Edwards and Jared Butler did just that. The year prior, it was Ricky Council IV. The team also had a pretty obvious need at the power forward position.
Barlow saw an opportunity not just on the basketball court, but also to be a little closer to home, just like when he left St. Joe’s to return to Dumont. Obviously, everyone was thrilled to learn he’d be spending the 2025-26 season in Philadelphia.
“Oh, I’m loving this. I’m loving him being this close,” Theresa, who’s been out to one or two games a month this season, said. “When he was in San Antonio or Atlanta, it was such a production to even just see one game. … And I hate to fly. But getting on a plane, planning days off of work. This, I can just go jump in the car after work, drive down for the game and be back for work the next day. … That all his friends can be down there. I don’t think he’s had a home game where someone wasn’t there for him.”
And it was yet another decision by Barlow that paid off.
He quickly ran out of two-way days, playing in 71 games, including 59 starts. He proved to be an excellent complement to Joel Embiid and was one of the Sixers’ most reliable players — something that’s definitely not lost on head coach Nick Nurse.
“I think that’s a pretty incredible story, too, to be honest with you,” Nurse said ahead of the team’s regular-season finale. “That he was able to show signs early and just kind of keep it up all year long … I think one of the things that really becomes valuable in this league right is now is obviously availability but also consistency and he was that. And I think he can just get a little bit better too.”
He learned about humility and teamwork from his grandfather. His mom allowed him to make his own choices and learn from them. His friends gave him the space to be himself. His coaches pushed him to be better.
All of it has delivered Barlow to the current moment, with a chance to play a key role on a playoff team.
Was it fate? Destiny? Luck? Hard work?
“I definitely think that life isn’t fair,” Barlow said. “I definitely think there are super-talented and motivated people that never get an opportunity to do something special. I think that when you get that opportunity to do something special, though, you have to make the most of it. …
“You can find a backup plan, but you have to act like this small thing that you’re trying to do that seems impossible, you have to think that’s the only way in life and take every day and grind and don’t stop and don’t lose faith in what you’re doing. And then, if it doesn’t work out, you can live with those results.
“But I think too many times in life people are scared to go all in on something because they’re afraid of failing, but failure is the key to success in life.”
Dominick Barlow already got a Hollywood ending, but his story is really just beginning.
