Last week, ESPN came up with the all-time starting five for every NBA team. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Wilt Chamberlain made the cut for the Warriors. Hey Rick Barry — does that bother you at all? “Everybody’s entitled to their opinion,” the Hall of Famer said Tuesday on 95.7 The Game. “And that’s all it is — the opinion of some people. It is what it is. I know who I am. I know who I was as a player, and that doesn’t change. Who cares. “Bottom line is — I have my championship ring sitting on my finger that I’m looking at right now.”
Rick Barry Rumors
In 1975, Barry helped bring the franchise its first NBA title since it relocated from Philadelphia to the Bay Area in 1962. He averaged 29.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 steals in the NBA Finals that year, as the Warriors swept the heavily-favored Washington Bullets. “We won as a team. We didn’t win because of any one individual,” Barry explained. “We won because we made a commitment to playing the game the right way, and everybody was a major contributor. “That’s what made it so very special. We were like a family.”
Fans will be able to bid on the plaques of Magic Johnson, Julius “Dr. J” Erving and ‘His Airness’ himself, Michael Jordan. Auction winners will get the 25-by-28-inch black-and-white portrait that was previously found on the Hall’s domed ceiling for every person inducted. Other portraits that can be bid on include Rick Barry, Bob Cousy, Patrick Ewing, Pete Maravich, Isiah Thomas, Shaquille O’Neal and Jerry West.
Justin Kubatko: James Harden is just the third different player in NBA history to average at least 37.0 PPG through his first 10 games of a season: 52.9 – Wilt Chamberlain, 1962-63. 49.6 – Chamberlain, 1961-62. 38.1 – Rick Barry, 1966-67. 37.3 – James Harden, 2019-20. 37.1 – Chamberlain, 1959-60
Justin Kubatko: D’Angelo Russell recorded 52 points, nine rebounds, and five assists tonight. The last @Golden State Warriors player to match or exceed each of those totals in a single game was Rick Barry with 55/9/9 on Mar. 25, 1978.
But Barry is very confused as to why Durant would leave such an amazing situation in Golden State for an unsure future with the Brooklyn Nets. “I’m hoping some day he’s gonna come forward and actually explain why it is he made the decision to leave because personally I can’t figure out what reasons would justify wanting to leave the situation that he’s in,” Barry tells TMZ Sports. “It’s such an incredible opportunity to be one of the greatest teams in the history of your sport. You have great teammates who can help you to achieve the goal of winning more championships and not have to carry the whole load yourself, be in a new arena that’s gonna be fantastic, with great fans. So it’s hard for me to conceive of why he wanted to leave.”
Still, Barry says there’s no hard feelings and even joked about KD’s future … “I wish him all the best but I will root against him when he plays against the Warriors when he comes back from his injury.” “Thank you for what you did to bring championships to this team with your amazing skills,” Barry added.
