When I first walked into the brand new Dana Barros Basketball Club, I couldn’t help but notice the massive 20-foot-tall logo of Dana dribbling. I met the president of the club, Pete Bosader, and the first question I asked him was, “Why is Dana in orange?” From the side, I heard a familiar voice yell out, “What did you want me in, blue and gold?” It was my old classmate and teammate, Dana Barros ’85. He gave me his genuine big smile and hug.

It turns out his son, Jordan, is an artist and drew the iconic logo. He chose orange because he lives in Easton. The new Dana Barros Basketball Club is in Stoughton (another town with orange colors) on the Easton line, and the club is enormous. It features five full basketball courts, and four can be used for volleyball. They are beautiful and loaded with state-of-the-art technology. Every court is digitally videotaped so that every game and practice can be recorded and stored, and coaches can watch their players instantly, or grandparents can watch games from Florida. Each court has a training room for Dana or a coach to bring in their team and review video. There is a huge concession stand that will serve the crowds when the facility is at full capacity.

It all makes sense. Dana loves basketball. But after 14 years of playing in the NBA, he is pursuing his second love, coaching. If you have ever seen him working at a Xaverian basketball clinic, you notice that he not only loves coaching, but he’s really good at it. His office is covered with four- and five-foot trophies of different teams he’s coached to AAU national championships. With the recent rise of AAU sports, his facilities are a coach’s dream.

“I wanted to build the best facility in the region to not only help kids, but to work with anyone here - high school, D-I college prospects, and pros,” said Dana, who has been a special assistant to the Celtics since retiring and works with the younger Celtics’ players on ball handling, defense, free throws, footwork, and his favorite, the three-pointer.

The former first-round draft pick of the Sonics and NBA all-star has a couple of gray hairs and says that, of course, he has slowed down since retiring. Now, instead of running a blistering 4.3-40-yard dash, he says he can only run a 4.5! He’s happy with his role with the Celtics, doing public appearances for the club and signing autographs, but even more satisfying is working with a 20-year-old draft pick on the finer points of the game. Now he has the ultimate playground to share his craft.