The 1996 NBA Slam Dunk champion Brent Barry and Erin Barry were married for 12 years before they divorced in 2011.
Erin Barry was born to a single teenage mother and was placed for adoption by an Irish-Polish parent.
Growing up in a small town near San Francisco, Erin and Brent met while they were both teenagers attending neighboring Catholic schools.
They fell head over heels for each other at 16 and eventually walked down the aisle at a cathedral wedding in San Francisco in 1998.
Erin pursued higher education, earning a degree in English literature from the University of Oregon and later attending law school.
She worked as a court-appointed special advocate and juvenile court caseworker, focusing on abused and neglected children.
Together, hand in hand, the couple excelled in their respective careers, with Erin dedicated to child advocacy while Brent’s basketball career took them to several cities, including Chicago, Seattle, and San Antonio.
Actual 88s on for my big brother….sorry @NBABeau pic.twitter.com/caDI29XOP4
— Brent Barry (@Barryathree) April 5, 2022
Brent and Erin first embraced parenthood with their first child, son Quinn Barry, in 2001. Five years later, they extended their family of three to four with the arrival of their second child, daughter Cade Barry, in 2006.
However, their initially seemingly sound marital life ended in divorce after 12 years. Brent filed for divorce from Erin on October 29, 2010, in San Antonio. Their divorce was later finalized on January 5, 2011 in Texas.
Although initially, the reason behind their failed marriage was cited as irreconcilable differences, rumors of an alleged emotional connection between Erin and Brent’s former Spurs teammate Tony Parker got everyone skeptical of the true cause of their split.
It’s unclear whether Erin’s move had something to do with the Tony issue; however, reports say it was during the same period when Erin and Tony exchanged many inappropriate texts.
“I Don’t Have Time to Have an Affair,” Erin Barry Denied Claims of an Alleged Emotional Affair With Brent’s Former Spurs Teammate, Tony Parker!
Just two weeks after Tony Parker signed a $50 million contract extension in 2010, his wife, Eva Longoria, filed for divorce.
Eva’s move came out of nowhere, for the couple looked like they were a perfect match. However, in nearly no time after she made the bold move, reports of Tony cheating on her with Brent’s wife, Erin, prevailed online.
According to Eva, she explored hundreds of inappropriate text messages between Tony and Erin. This led to speculation that Parker and Erin Barry were having an affair, which both parties denied.
Upon the revelation of the news, Brent’s father, Rick Barry, the Hall of Famer, said
I feel horrible for my son. I’m in shock. I knew [Erin] was moving out of the house soon and She was the one that filed for divorce. This is the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Brent, a member of the San Antonio Spurs championship teams in 2005 and 2007, met Tony during his time there.
Erin took to her Facebook to deny the allegations and clarify that they didn’t have any affair and that their friendship had nothing to do with the end of her marriage.
She wrote:
I did not have an affair with Tony Parker, nor did I “pursue” Tony Parker. Unfortunately, because our divorces are occurring at the same time, great speculation has been cast on our friendship. My friendship with Tony Parker had nothing to do with the end of my marriage (which is painful enough without this added drama), and to assume that we had an affair is naïve, ridiculous, and completely misguided.
According to her, they were only linked after both couples filed for divorce from their respective partners almost simultaneously.
Despite the denials, the scandal contributed to the breakdown of both marriages, with Eva Longoria filing for divorce from Tony Parker and Erin Barry filing for divorce from Brent Barry.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Phoenix Suns’ head coach, Brent Barry, was raised in a household with parents already involved in basketball. His father, Rick Barry, is a retired professional basketball player, and his stepmother, Lynn Barry, was a collegiate basketball player.
- All of Brent’s four brothers, Scooter, Drew, Jon, and Canyon, played basketball.
