virtually every great player from Barry’s era acknowledge him as one of the best players ever, and consider him overlooked in comparison to others at his level like Bird or Jordan. Northern California was not a major media market in his time, and the n.b.a. was not nearly as prominent among major pro sports. Several seasons in his prime were spent in the ABA, which to this day the n.b.a. does not acknowledge as a major league, other than a footnote in some of its teams’ histories [NJ, Den, Ind, UT of course].

Barry is a prominent example of how peer recognition is more meaningful than public (mis)perception. Like Nelson, he alienated his share of people along the way. Nelson is also considered by his peers as one of the greatest coaches, but the public and the league are very reluctant to acknowledge him. Plenty of GS fans revile Nelson, despite the fact that he gave the team relevance for the only seasons in its fifty years of residence in California other than the Thurmond/Barry era. Plenty of GS fans will rate Bird better than Barry simply because they saw the prime part of the former’s career prominently televised, and many of his games get replayed on ‘n.b.a. classics’. Barry’s talents went beyond scoring ; he has outstanding hoops i.q. and court vision.

To be honest if there was a guy compared to Rick Barry all I’d know is that they think the player was good and could shoot. As time passes so do comparisons, in 50 years I doubt people will be compared to CP3 or Kobe, players come and go