RealGM Analysis
What is there to say?
Rick Barry did it all, including winning an NBA title in 74-75 when his next-best talents were Rookie of the Year Jamaal Wilkes and Clifford Ray; hardly peanuts, but nothing like the Celtics, Lakers, Knicks or Bullets squads who won titles in that decade either.
Rick Barry was an outstanding small forward and a man who dominated in both the ABA and the NBA.
He was 6?7, extremely quick, an outstanding shooter and, of course, famous for his underhanded free throw? a shot that went in over 89% of the time across his 1,020 games in the NBA and ABA. He shot an even 90% in the NBA, peaking at 94.7% (an NBA record at the time) and winning the FT% title in six of his ten NBA seasons, including runs of two and three consecutive victories. He led his rookie team to an 18-game turnaround (which sadly still only meant 35 wins). Barry?s rookie year was an excellent debut season.
Without surprise, he was the Rookie of the Year.
The year after, he recorded the 8th-highest single-season scoring average in NBA history, at 35.6 ppg, won the All-Star MVP and lost in 6 to the ?67 Sixers in the Finals, one of the greatest single-season teams in NBA history. In that series (which included a 55-point outburst in Game 3), he recorded an average of 40.8 ppg, a record that stood for about thirty years until Jordan averaged 41 ppg against the Suns in 1993.
After this season, he clashed with management over his contract and eventually signed with the ABA, though he was forced to sit out an entire season before he went off to star in the alternate league. He tore a ligament with the Oaks that year and only played 35 games. The team was sold and relocated along with Barry to Washington. Barry initially refused to report, saying "If I wanted to go to Washington, I'd run for President!" He missed 32 games before being forced to play. His season ended when he was ejected in the seventh game of the division finals for fighting with players on the other team, a fact not often discussed when people speak of Barry being ?soft.? He was traded to the New York Nets, where he played his last two ABA seasons.
In ?71, he made the All-Star team despite playing only 59 games but he led the league in scoring in both of his years as a Net. After his second season, the Warriors won a court case and he was prevented from staying in the ABA, returning to the Warriors.
It was at this point in his career that Barry became less of a physical player near to the rim, as he had been in his earlier days, moving his game farther from the rim. He gained twenty pounds before moving to the NBA as well. Barry himself noted that his time in the ABA with a mostly weak and unhelpful supporting cast had forced him to develop as a ball-handler and defender, which would go on to help him in the NBA. It was during this period that he became known for his passing ability, as well, marking him as an extremely versatile player who was no longer entirely focused on scoring as he had been in the ABA. And even still, he managed to score over 30 ppg one year with the Warriors, en route to an NBA title. He added a Finals MVP when the Warriors swept through the 60-win Bullets (a team that won a dozen more games than the Warriors in the regular season and had the best record). It is worth a retrospective look that Barry was an NBA scoring leader who led his team to a title, since it was exactly the comment that this could not be done that would plague the early years of Michael Jordan?s career. Of course, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had done just four years earlier as well and was at the time the only player to record a higher regular-season scoring average en route to a title and Michael Jordan would eventually record 31.5 and 32.6 ppg in 1991 and 1993 respectively.
Perhaps the most defining moment of Barry?s career, one that best represents his constant underdog status and his ability to achieve beyond expectations, were those ?75 Finals. Aside from the obvious underdog status in facing the team with the league?s best regular-season record, no one had expected the Warriors to make the Finals, and so their arena was booked for another event, and their home games were held elsewhere in San Francisco.
Barry?s skills are worthy of note; he?s the only player to lead the NCAA, NBA and ABA in scoring. In the late 70s with Houston, he was the prototype for the ?point forward? position, which is not often discussed. People think of Scottie Pippen or even Paul Pressey if they?re especially astute, but Barry was a 6?7 ball-handler and initiator long before those guys. The 1970s were a time when there was Barry, Dr. J and everyone else at the forward position. A lot of his ability is lost in time and because he was an acerbic player who never held his tongue, something that carried over into his broadcasting career enough so that he was dismissed from one position because of a racially-charged statement. Barry was, however, unquestionably one of the game?s greatest scorers, among the earliest pioneers for bigger players playing away from the rim (after his youthful physicality) and for bigger guys taking on the responsibilities and skills of a guard. Barry played rough, he worked the refs, opposing fans booed him mercilessly, and that was his game, that was how he functioned. But his talent was undeniable, this wasn?t Bill Laimbeer, or Dennis Rodman, this wasn?t a borderline All-Star or an All-Star specialist. This was a guy at the top of the league who could do just about everything.
One accolade noticeably missing from his repertoire is the MVP he should have won in the 1975 season. Instead, Bob McAdoo won and Dave Cowens finished second, both of which were a travesty for having ranked ahead of Barry. Nevertheless, he does not possess a Maurice Podoloff trophy and that limits him against some of the competition in a ranking such as this, because so many others have overcome the competition in order to win one. It was a tough era, though, and one should be mindful that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won 6 MVPs in 11 years that overlapped with most of Barry?s NBA career and he sits in a position roughly comparable to Jerry West in this regard. Nevertheless, Barry demonstrated incredible skill, realized the ultimate goal of winning a title and was a dominant and versatile player during his career. For his achievements and his impact on the league, I consider him to be number twenty-three on my list of all-time greats.