By Khalil Garriott
He was the nation’s top-ranked recruit and won back-to-back state titles in high school.
He was the seventh overall pick in the NBA Draft.
He guarded LeBron James in the NBA Finals.
He was a starter on the winningest team in NBA history.
He is an NBA champion.
He won a gold medal in the Olympics.
He plays alongside a record-setting teammate unlike anyone the league has ever seen.
Yet, for all his plaudits, Harrison Barnes’ current dream is to purchase a bank in his home state of Iowa.
‘Economic first responders’
Barnes, who has built a career shaped by understated leadership and consistent performance, uses his platform to inspire and support others. As a two-time bank director, his commitment to community banking is a key piece of his broader work as a philanthropist.
Barnes visits the Chicago Fed.
The origin story of Barnes’ interest in community bank investments began during the Covid years. “I saw community banks act as economic first responders during Covid,” he recalls. “They proved to be the most effective way to distribute PPP loans and proved their value to their customers and communities.”
Barnes, calling himself “intellectually curious” about investing in banktech, also has a deep interest in supporting minority depository institutions — specifically advancing financial inclusion, improving the customer experience and supporting small businesses in underserved markets. As these community-focused institutions seek to modernize operations and expand their impact, their future includes both promise and uncertainty.
“MDIs are hyper-focused, which should be the case for any excellent community bank,” Barnes says. “Plenty of large institutions exist to ably serve the broad needs of Americans. MDIs and other hyper-focused community banks fill the void where one-size-fits-all solutions just don’t cut it.”
Community banker characteristics
Barnes has traveled an implausible road from the small town of Ames, Iowa to the top of the NBA pedestal. Jeff Plagge, past chair of ABA, a former Iowa banking superintendent and a longtime community bank CEO, cites his mentee’s commitment, discipline and long-term view as traits that carry over as a pro athlete into the financial services industry.
“You don’t play in the NBA for over 13 years without a lot of all three,” Plagge says. “And as every banker knows, in community banking you have to have a commitment to your communities, employees and customers, as well as the discipline to play the long game.”
Barnes has more than just a passing interest in community banking, having served on two different bank boards in the last decade. In June 2025, he completed the first year of the two-year Iowa School of Banking program, and in September 2025, he visited the Chicago Fed.
“Patience and risk management are huge pillars of successful banking,” Barnes says. “These same concepts appear in basketball, with different names; for example, shot selection.”
Barnes’ interest in fully understanding the business of banking is evident to Iowa banking leaders.
“Having been the CEO of three community banks in my career ranging from $100 million to $2.5 billion and serving as the superintendent of banking for the state of Iowa, I bring more than 45 years of experience to the table,” says Plagge, managing director of Barnes & Co. “You don’t grow a great community bank overnight. You have to have a plan, the right people and the commitment to carry out the plan — but also remain flexible as markets, economics and opportunities change.”
Barnes calls his experience as a bank director very illuminating. “Every bank is run differently, and it was fun to compare my outsider understanding of each franchise to the insider view of how the business is operated. Each board has its own internal dynamics and views of management oversight.
“Having served on the NBPA board, I had some sense of what to expect, and the bank boards were not much different than the NBPA’s player board,” Barnes adds.
Returning to his roots
Off the court, Barnes and his wife, Brittany, are passionate community advocates. Whenever his playing career ends, they’ll continue being community stewards and philanthropists while he has more time to devote to all things banking. Anyone who knows Barnes well enough knows about his perpetually unquenched thirst for lifelong learning.
Barnes’ megaphone could help emphasize the importance of financial literacy to the millions of Americans who are unbanked today.
“The difficulty becomes formulating a useful message and distributing it at scale,” he says. “Financial literacy means different things to different people at different points of their lives.”
The connection between rural towns like his hometown of Ames, Iowa with their local banks is a big driver of Barnes’ interest in owning a bank after he’s done lacing up his sneakers against the best athletes in the world. He intended to complete the Iowa School of Banking in June — but the dates conflict with an important commitment. His Spurs are in the NBA Finals.
“I’m motivated by developing a peer group with young Iowa bankers, with whom I can grow in this industry,” says Barnes, who turned 34 on May 30. “Especially if my dream of purchasing an Iowa bank plays out.”
