23.2 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 5.1 APG, 45 FG%, 33 3PT%, 90 FT%
Hall of Fame forward Rick Barry is the only player ever to lead the NCAA, NBA, and ABA in scoring. His name appears near the top of every all-time offensive list. He scored more than 25,000 points in his professional career and in four different seasons averaged more than 30 points. He was named to 12 All-Star teams, four All-NBA First Teams, and five All-ABA First Teams. Barry was a nearly unstoppable offensive juggernaut, a passionate competitor with an untempered desire to win. Occasionally his fiery competitiveness would grate on rivals — and teammates, too.
Mike Dunleavy, a teammate and friend of the tempestuous Barry, told the Chicago Tribune, “You could send him to the U.N., and he’d start World War III.”
“I was not an easy person to get along with,” Barry admitted in the same article. “I didn’t have a lot of tact.”
However, he did have remarkable talent. He led an otherwise ordinary Golden State club to the NBA Championship in 1975, captaining the team and averaging 30.6 points, second in the league.
When he left the game, Barry was sixth on the NBA-ABA all-time scoring list with 25,279 points. And although his defense was sometimes criticized for being less than intense, his 1,104 career steals ranked 10th. He was a deadly free-throw shooter, using an odd, outdated underhand style. At the time of his retirement, Barry’s .900 career free-throw percentage was the best in NBA history. In one season, 1978-79, he missed only 9 free-throw attempts. [Read]
(Sources: NBA.com, YouTube, Basketball-Reference.com)
