Barbosa recalls cursing at Draymond, refs in Portuguese

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Before he was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs with the No. 28 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft and dealt to the Phoenix Suns, Leandro Barbosa was an up-and-coming star in Brazil.

With Portuguese as his native tongue, Barbosa's acclimation as a young adult to a new foreign life was sure to be difficult, and the language barrier did not help. 

However, by the time Barbosa came to the Warriors, in his 12th year in the NBA, he had become much more fluent and confident speaking English. Communication on an NBA court is key, and on a team that was comprised of primarily English speakers, Barbosa was able to fit right in. That does not mean he did not have some fun teaching his new teammates some Portuguese, though. 

"Many times, it is bad words, I can't tell you guys. But all the time," Barbosa recalled on the latest episode of the "Runnin' Plays" podcast.

Speaking a new language can be tough even when level-headed and relaxed, but it is that much harder when tensions rise, and Barbosa was no stranger to that situation.

"Especially when I fight with Draymond, many times on the court I get confused, I get frustrated and mad, so the Portuguese comes because the English disappears from my mind, so I got to talk in Portuguese," Barbosa explained with a smile.

"And Draymond used to make fun of me, he used to say, 'He can't even speak English, man' and everybody used to laugh. And we became friends again."

RELATED: Barbosa shares funny story of Iguodala lying to him

So did Barbosa curse at anyone else? 

"I used to talk in Portuguese with [the refs] also."

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