Biography

Call 1.800.966.1380 to contact Rick Barry booking agent, publicist, manager, pr firm, representative and management company for booking Rick Barry speaker appearances, autograph signing, endorsement deals or hiring Rick Barry as a keynote speaker for your next event. Find Rick Barry official website information, speaker fees, booking fees, costs and schedule. Retired basketball great, Rick Barry, was born on March 28, 1944, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Barry is considered by many to be the greatest small forward of all time due to his very precise outside shot, knowledge and execution of team defense, and demanding will to win. Barry is known for his unorthodox but accurate underhanded "granny shot" during free throw shooting. Barry is one of few elite players who have altered their games without losing effectiveness.

Rick Barry was named NBA Finals MVP and began to attract increasing admiration for his play. During that era, Rick Barry and Julius Erving were the yardsticks by which all forwards were measured. Barry was putting up some incredible numbers. The only member of an NBA championship team to have posted a higher scoring average was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who poured in 31.7 points per game for the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971. Those marks held up until Jordan hit 31.5 ppg in 1991 and then 32.6 ppg in 1993 for the Chicago Bulls.

Teammate Clifford Ray diplomatically told Sports Illustrated, "Rick may not be the kind of guy to say please, but he's in it to win."

When it came time to dole out the 1974-75 postseason honors, Rick Barry was snubbed, despite having had a great year. He finished third in the NBA MVP balloting, behind the winner, McAdoo and Boston's Dave Cowens.

"There's no doubt Rick's on-court demeanor hurt his image," said Butch Beard, point guard on the 1975 Warriors, to HOOP magazine in 1990.

The next season, 1975-76, the Warriors won 59 games, tops in the league, but fell to Phoenix in seven games in the Western Conference Finals. With the Warriors' young players developing both skills and confidence, Barry shouldered less of the scoring burden. He averaged 21.0 points while distributing 496 assists.

Barry retired after the 1979-80 season. In 14 seasons of professional basketball (10 in the NBA), he had played in more than 1,000 games, never missing more than four NBA games in a row until his final year. He averaged 23.2 points in the NBA and 30.5 points in his four ABA seasons. His combined scoring totaled 25,279 points, which ranks him among the top scorers in professional basketball history.

In the playoffs he was even more prolific, scoring 24.8 points per game in his NBA postseason career and 33.5 points per game in the ABA. At the time of his retirement, Barry was the most accurate free-throw shooter in NBA history, having hit 90.0 percent of his free-throw attempts.

In 1987, along with Walt Frazier, Bob Houbregs, Bobby Wanzer, and Pete Maravich, Barry was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

After his career ended, Barry became a broadcaster, at one point teaming with Bill Russell to form a highly opinionated announcing duo. After several seasons at the mic, he drifted out of the public spotlight in the mid-1980s.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was mentioned mainly as the father of four talented college and professional players. Scooter Barry played for the University of Kansas and then in the Continental Basketball Association; Jon played for Georgia Tech and various NBA teams. Barry's second youngest son, Drew, played for Georgia Tech, and the youngest son, Brent, played at Oregon State and entered the NBA as the 15th overall selection of the 1995 Draft by the Denver Nuggets although his draft rights were traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.

In the early 1990s Barry resurfaced as a minor league coach. He began in the Global Basketball Association, then moved on to the CBA's Fort Wayne Fury, who went 19-37 in 1993-94. In 1996, he was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.

PFP Sports & Celebrity Talent PFP is a speakers bureau and booking agency providing Rick Barry speaker, personal appearance and endorsement information. Booking Rick Barry for appearances, as a motivational speaker, keynote speaker, for a fundraising event, grand opening, television or radio commercial, PR campaign or trade show is easy through our agency. For more info, contact Rick Barry through PFP Sports & Celebrity Talent at 1.800.966.1380.