Basketball Career
Rick Barry is one of the most celebrated players in NBA history — not only for his game, but also for the competitiveness he brought to the court. In 1965, following a stellar collegiate campaign at the University of Miami (FL), Rick was drafted third in the first round of the NBA Draft by the San Francisco Warriors. He quickly established himself as an elite player, garnered NBA Rookie of the Year honors, and was a member of the NBA All-Pro First Team. The next season, Rick proved he was for real by leading the league in scoring (35.6 ppg), and being named MVP of the All-Star Game. Once again, he was part of the NBA All-Pro First Team.
During his 14-year professional career, four in the ABA (Oakland, Washington and the New York Nets) and ten in the NBA (San Francisco, Golden State and Houston), Rick was a 12-time All-Star. His deadeye jump shot was one of basketball’s most feared weapons and enabled him to become the only player in history to lead the NCAA, ABA and NBA in scoring. In 1975, Rick earned the NBA Championship Series MVP, leading the underdog Warriors to a four-game sweep of the Washington Bullets to win the title. In a combined ABA/NBA career, Rick tallied 25,279 points and received nine All-NBA/ABA First Team honors. In 1987, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inducted Rick as a player, and in 1988; the Golden State Warriors retired his #24 jersey. Rick is one of the 50 Greatest NBA Players. His unorthodox underhanded free throw style enabled him to finish his career with the second best accuracy in the history of the NBA, 90%.
Broadcasting Career
Rick began his broadcasting career after his rookie season. He was the morning drive-time sports reporter on KNBR radio in San Francisco. His articulate style and insightful perceptions provided a refreshing and honest view of sports. After moving to the Oakland Oaks of the ABA, Rick began doing television work as a color analyst for college basketball games telecast on KTVU in Oakland, as well as providing sports commentary on a local radio station.
Rick’s next broadcasting experience came in New York City, when he played for the NY Nets. During the off-seasons, he worked as the weekend sports reporter for the local ABC-TV station. During the week, he also filled in for the six and eleven PM sports reporters, Frank Gifford and Jim Bouton. Rick even branched out into non-sporting event broadcasting, hosting NBC’s Monitor Radio program on several occasions.
Rick eventually returned to play for the Warriors and in his off-seasons, he provided color analyst for the nationally broadcasted NBA games on ABC-TV. Later he did both play-by-play and analyst work for the NBA games broadcasted by CBS-TV. Rick also covered a variety of sports, including track and field, swimming, diving, rodeo and even weightlifting and bodybuilding.
When TBS and then TNT began broadcasting NBA games, Rick became part of their broadcast team and did both play-by-play and color analyst work. He also covered other sports as part of Turner’s Goodwill Games in Moscow and Seattle.
While living in the Seattle area, Rick served as the color analyst for the SuperSonics NBA games. He then moved to Los Angeles and did local sports at night for one of the independent TV stations. Finally, for two years he served as both the NBA studio analyst and game analyst for CTV in Canada as part of their NBA game of the week, which ended when the Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis.
For five years, Rick was host of the Rick Barry Show on KNBR radio in San Francisco and for one season co-hosted “In the Paint” for the NBA, on Sirius Satellite Radio. He also was a co-host of some TV shows on the Outdoor Channel.