Is Rick Barry underrated?

[Akrazotile]

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports...is.single.html


http://books.google.com/books?id=oLC...rmelon&f=false
"Watermelon Grin" excerpt



another piece on Barry: http://www.sbnation.com/longform/201...free-throw-nba

Lol damn.

Wtf would cbs put him in the broadcast booth if hes clearly that type of dude. I mean its hilarious that they did it but what a dumb move on their part.

[oarabbus]

Lol damn.

Wtf would cbs put him in the broadcast booth if hes clearly that type of dude. I mean its hilarious that they did it but what a dumb move on their part.

I don't know man, but the best (worst) part? That previous debacle was during the the '81 NBA finals, and

Barry eventually found himself a second life on TBS, providing play-by-play for the '85 Eastern Finals with - you're not gonna believe this - Bill Russell! Who's the genius who came up with that idea? That was like Mike Tyson getting freed from jail and immediately hosting the 1996 Miss Black Teen USA pageant.

[Helix]

Barry apologized to Russell, and Russell accepted, and yes, a couple of years later they were teamed up doing games for TBS. They were quite good, too, at least I thought so. Barry was really good at play by play, and as a commentator/analyst, so was Russell. Watching them together and listening to them there was never any indication of any kind of problem between them. There was a pretty good chemistry between them.

[T_L_P]

Just look at Barry's hair. No way he'd be dominant in today's game.

[COLOR="White"]lol not sarcasm. [/COLOR]

[pudman13]

The "watermelon grin" comment sounds awful, but I believe him when he said he never thought of it as a racist term. His early teammate Nate Thurmond had very positive things to say about him, and there's no other evidence of him being racist. He was an equal opportunity jerk, rather than a prejudiced one.

[hawksdreamfan44]

Yeah, he's definitely underrated.

[kunk75]

1. played for the university of miami and not a massive basketball school like unc, duke, indiana, etc
2. played in the ABA
3. hopped a lot between teams in general
4. has a reputation as a curmudgeon
5. played in the 70s, a decade that unfortunately gets forgotten (when it comes to basketball)

6. White

[pudman13]

6. White

This was before the days of Larry Bird, but Nate Thurmond said that along with Jerry West, Barry was one of the two best white players he'd ever seen, played with, or played against.

[KyrieTheFuture]

He is, but he was exceptionally unlikable in a forgettable era (however rightly or wrongly). I feel for him, one of the top 5 players I wish I had a chance to see play.

[stanlove1111]

[QUOTE=Lebron23]He's a top 5 SF. I like his arrogance and swagger on and the court. I actually rank him above Scottie Pippen because he won an NBA Finals MVP in 1975.

One of the best scorers in NBA and ABA History.[/QUO

This is just another example of how silly the finals MVP obsession is. I can't believe you guys pull this all the time. The reason that Barry has one and Pippen didn't couldn't have anything to do with Pippen playing with MJ and Barry not playing with MJ could it..If I ran this board you would be banned for 2 weeks for that because its so ridiculous.


Pippen might have played great in 6 finals but didn't win an mvp because he played with Jordan but Barry played great in one so he is the better player..

[stanlove1111]

The "watermelon grin" comment sounds awful, but I believe him when he said he never thought of it as a racist term. His early teammate Nate Thurmond had very positive things to say about him, and there's no other evidence of him being racist. He was an equal opportunity jerk, rather than a prejudiced one.

Exactly..People who lave to make everything about race are of course going to try to use this as an example of racism when it obviously could just be he didn't understand the term. But as you notice not one of the poster who has commented on this ever even considered that obviously possibility..I saw it at the time and didn't understand that it was a racist term either as I am sure a lot of people didn't.

[SHAQisGOAT]

The "watermelon grin" comment sounds awful, but I believe him when he said he never thought of it as a racist term. His early teammate Nate Thurmond had very positive things to say about him, and there's no other evidence of him being racist. He was an equal opportunity jerk, rather than a prejudiced one.

^This.

And yea, Barry was an asshole many times - even to some teammates unlike someone like Zeke who was only that to some opponents and so on - but that man could flat-out ball... Plus, yes he's very underrated these days. 6# greatest SF ever, in my book.

[JellyBean]

No. He is probably rated. The dude is among the 50 greatest NBA players.

[SHAQisGOAT]

This is just another example of how silly the finals MVP obsession is. I can't believe you guys pull this all the time. The reason that Barry has one and Pippen didn't couldn't have anything to do with Pippen playing with MJ and Barry not playing with MJ could it..If I ran this board you would be banned for 2 weeks for that because its so ridiculous.


Pippen might have played great in 6 finals but didn't win an mvp because he played with Jordan but Barry played great in one so he is the better player..

Pippen couldn't lead the Bulls to the Finals when Jordan 1st retired... They were close, Scottie played just great all year and led them to many wins, but he couldn't get a ring, not even get to the Finals.

And when you compare teammates/opponents (from Barry and Pippen, in 1975vs1994)... Rick most likely gets more "credit", and he won it all also, which is major here.

Rick was simply better scorer (in most "facets" of it), definitely a better shoter too, had higher offensive IQ and was a better pure passer although it's probably a wash when talking about play-making (Barry played more off-ball though).
I believe Pippen gets the edge as a rebounder and he was clearly a better defensive-player although Barry was a good one himself.

Barry was also the alpha-dog for most of his career, unlike Pippen. He made more all-nba 1st teams, finished top5 in MVP voting more times...

Overall, at their best, if I'm looking for a #1 option, the main man to lead my team I'm picking Barry... If I already had that, I'm picking Pippen over someone like Rick.

[stanlove1111]

Pippen couldn't lead the Bulls to the Finals when Jordan 1st retired... They were close, Scottie played just great all year and led them to many wins, but he couldn't get a ring, not even get to the Finals.

And when you compare teammates/opponents (from Barry and Pippen, in 1975vs1994)... Rick most likely gets more "credit", and he won it all also, which is major here.

Rick was simply better scorer (in most "facets" of it), definitely a better shoter too, had higher offensive IQ and was a better pure passer although it's probably a wash when talking about play-making (Barry played more off-ball though).
I believe Pippen gets the edge as a rebounder and he was clearly a better defensive-player although Barry was a good one himself.

Barry was also the alpha-dog for most of his career, unlike Pippen. He made more all-nba 1st teams, finished top5 in MVP voting more times...

Overall, at their best, if I'm looking for a #1 option, the main man to lead my team I'm picking Barry... If I already had that, I'm picking Pippen over someone like Rick.

To me they are basically so different that its hard to compare..I agree it would depend on what you needed.

My point was is just saying one has a finals MVP so that makes him better is way too simplistic.