J.J. Barea raising money to help relief efforts in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico was hit extremely hard by Hurricane Maria earlier this week, and Dallas Mavericks guard and Puerto Rican native J.J. Barea is trying to help.

Barea spoke with ESPN’s Tim MacMahon about the devastation in his homeland as he awaits word from his friends and family — most of the country is without power.

"It's completely dark over there," Barea told ESPN on Thursday after playing pickup ball with his teammates in Dallas. "No phone service, no power, no water, no nothing. We're trying our best right now to help, and whenever we've got contact with [family], make a plan and start helping over the next couple of days and next couple of weeks.

"Puerto Rico's completely destroyed. The water right now is the worst. The wind knocked everything down, but now the water is down and it's the worst ever. We've had some bad ones, but never like this."

Thankfully no deaths have been reported out of Puerto Rico so far, so Barea is hopeful to hear from his loved ones soon. In the meantime, he’s trying to raise as much money as possible to help the country, just as the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt did for victims of Hurricane Irma.

As of Thursday, the site has raised over $80,000. Those looking to donate can do so here. If you need some extra incentive, Dallas sports radio host Corby Davidson from The Ticket has offered to kick in some extras if you donate.