Brief Biography of NBA Legend Rick Barry and His Career

Rick Barry was born on March 28, 1944 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. His father played semi-professional basketball.

After a successful college basketball career at the University of Miami, Rick Barry decided to join the NBA and take his game to the next level. During his senior year at the University of Miami Barry averaged 37.4 points per game, and he continued his scoring trends into the NBA.

Barry was drafted by the San Francisco Warriors with the fourth overall pick in 1965 and went on to have a very successful rookie season in which he averaged 25.7 points per game. In only his second year in the NBA, Barry dominated defenders and averaged 35.6 points per game.

Rick Barry was known for his skills around the basket as well as from a distance. He had smooth post moves that complemented his consistent outside shooting. He enjoyed scoring a great number of his points from the free throw line and was a master at drawing fouls. Barry made 90% of his free throws during his NBA career.

Before the 1967 NBA season began, Rick Barry moved his skills to the Oakland Oaks of the ABA. There was a huge contract dispute between the San Francisco Warriors and the Oaks about Barry's contract. The Warriors took their case to court and won, resulting in Barry having to sit out the 1967-1968 ABA season. In the 1968-1969 season, Barry led the entire ABA in scoring by averaging 34.0 points per game. It was during this same season that he won an ABA Championship with the Oaks.

Times were good for Barry until his team, the Oakland Oaks was sold and relocated to Washington. It was after this move that Barry decided to go back to the NBA. He signed a contract with his former team, the San Francisco Warriors, but once again, there were legal issues and he was forced to play three more seasons in the ABA. He played in Washington for the Capitols for one season and then was traded to the New York Nets. After two seasons with the Nets he made his long awaited return to the NBA.

In 1975, Barry led the Warriors to an NBA Title over the Washington Bullets. He was voted Most Valuable Player of the series. In 1978-1979 Barry signed with the Houston Rockets where he averaged 13.5 points per game as his career was winding down. He would stay with the Rockets until his retirement after the 1980 season.

Rick Barry ended his career with 25,279 points between both the ABA and NBA. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986 and two of his sons, Jon and Brent, went on to have NBA careers of their own.