On calling the sweep of the Washington Bullets the greatest upset in U.S. sports history – "… it was the greatest sports upset in major sports in this country. I still believe that. I defy anybody to tell me something that was more dramatic than what we accomplished. …people bring up the Jets in football, and I say ‘come on,’ the Jets were supposed to win in the AFL, it was just a big upset in the Super Bowl. They talk about the Miracle Mets, still nothing like us, we were a team that nobody picked to even make the playoffs, and not only did we make the playoffs, we wind up winning our division, we wind up winning our conference, picked to lose every series that we play, get to the Finals, and in the Finals we’re supposed to be swept by the Washington Bullets. And, yet we sweep them, how do you get it anymore dramatic than that?"

On winning the 1975 NBA Championship with the Warriors – "It really means everything. I have a ring from the top 50 (50 Greatest Players in NBA History) and I have a ring from the Hall of Fame. I never wear them because that’s not why I played. I played to win championships and this ring is the one I wear all the time from ‘75 and I’m just very proud of it. I’m proud of the accomplishment that we were able to achieve and it will always be the fondest memory I have personally when it comes to basketball…"

On Lebron James – "He’s got major flaws in his game. He’s six years into the NBA. How can a man six years into the NBA with his talent have a major flaw in his shot? How can he not use screens effectively? …I watch the game very carefully, he doesn’t use screens effectively and this is not Lebron’s fault. It’s the fault of the people who are teaching him. …there is no doubt in my mind that Lebron, if shown these things would do them, because he wants to be a great player, he wants to win a championship, and as great as he is, he should be better."

On the fundamentals of today’s players – "You see the Chris Paul’s coming along, and the Dwayne Wade’s of this world, and the Lebron James’ of this world and they’re all amazing athletes. And, I just wish that all of them would get taught the proper way so we could see them play up to their full potential…I love this game and I love watching it, but it drives me crazy to watch it when it’s not played intelligently."

On why he has never been a coach in the NBA – "I think I would have been a very good coach in the NBA had I been given the opportunity. But for some reason, that door was never open to me, I was never given the opportunity and I accept that… I would have loved to have the chance to prove all those people wrong… just like I proved the people wrong who said I couldn’t play in the NBA. I think I did a pretty good job at that."

On how he tried to get the Warriors to hire him to be their head coach – "I would have loved to had the opportunity and I would have brought back my old teammates to be my coaching staff, Clifford (Ray) and Butch Beard and Jamaal (Wilkes) and it would have been some fun times in the Bay Area if they would have given me the opportunity. My whole thing to them was how much worse could I do than what they’ve done? …They ended up firing the coach anyway that they hired, and they fired a whole bunch of them. So, I still don’t understand, just from a PR standpoint alone, I thought it would have been a good move just to bring me back."

On Bruce Newman’s controversial "Daddy Dearest" story in Sports Illustrated – "Don’t tell me that you came to my house because you wanted to write a story talking about my boys and the success that they had… I opened my doors to my home and I opened up my heart to you and told you about my boys and you turn around and write a story like that. I said, ‘You should be ashamed of yourself.’ And to be honest with you, to this day I never read Sports Illustrated."

On the public’s perception of him – "I was hard to get along with, maybe as a player, I don’t think as a person I am hard to get along with. People who know me, I think like me, but not many people know me. They only judge by what they saw on a basketball court and a basketball court is an unreal environment. …I’m not Rick Barry the person, I’m Rick Barry the basketball player who is crazy."

Highly agreed to: Barry does rub many the wrong way, but there’s no denying his wisdom.
-and-
I really do miss his razor sharp and highly opinionated basketball analysis on KNBR. He always told it like he saw it. I’d much rather prefer his insights despite their sometimes bitter and acerbic taste to Bob Fitzgerald’s on KNBR.

I heard him on KNBR today and I knew he was going to say the team is a mess (which has been obvious). I also knew he was going to say that they have their problems of not emphasizing defense on the team as he has been preaching repeatedly when he was on KNBR and til this day.

I love the nellie-ball style of play (with the right players) because it is exciting, but I couldn’t agree more with Rick Barry when he says “Defense wins Championships.”

I wish Rick Barry was our head coach or had some participation in coaching for the Warriors, but I bet none of the players (especially the young players) wouldn’t listen to him.

One thing I would guarentee is if Rick had this basketball team now, he would know how to utilize every single player on this roster where everyone would play. We would never see a DNP CD in the stat line at the end of every game.

He believes in playing the young cats. He would recognize all the “potential”, all the “talent” on the team, and would make them 100 times better if they would have an open mind to listen. Why wouldn’t you listen to a Hall of Famer who could make you better? (Especially if you want to be the best in the league.)

AR would probably be a stud playing significant minutes under the coaching of Rick Barry.

Bring back Barry. He was the best combo with Rod Brooks.

most of the time

really is a bit too biased, however good natured his intentions are. you can tell it makes barnett uncomfortable too…

he rick sounds like hed be a great coach