Rick Barry
Appearances
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
That's my biggest disappointment. I tried out for the Olympics in 64.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
It wasn't meant for you to be in the NBA, but you've dealt with it so well. And he made a commitment to spend all those years. He's done seven USA 3X3 national teams, participated in five international events and had, yeah, was it five? No, six, participated in six international events. No, he didn't participate because he didn't get to play in the Olympic qualifying.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
They went to their tournament. He got hurt two days before they didn't qualify in the first Olympics in Tokyo. Well, I said to him, I said, son, listen, everything happens. I said, it's maybe better. I said, had you made it, that would not have been an Olympic experience with COVID. Right. That would have been a totally different thing. So he didn't get to make it. qualify for it.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
So but then he played and he was the only gold medal the USA had never won years ago was the World Cup in 3x3. And he played on that team with Robbie Hummel, a bunch of other guys that are doing it and Kareem Maddox. And they they went undefeated and they won the gold medal. And then he played in two AmeriCups and won gold medal. He played in the and was MVP of one of those tournaments.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
And then he also got a gold medal in the Pan Am Yeah. Yeah. And that's only 21 points to score 15 or 16 of the 21 points. And he scored the last seven to help win. And that was the first win they had because they were so disappointed and stuff. And then he had the winning basket and 14 points against China the game after that.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
And so those are both records that we'll see how long they stand because they've only been in the Olympics now three extra two years. I mean, two Olympics. Two times, yeah. But it may last a while because in all the games I've watched, you know, for them playing all over the world, I've never seen another player, you know, score that many points in one game.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Yeah, but John, but let me tell you, Brent wanted badly to go to Duke. Oh, he would have been such a great player for Mike. I mean, because the way he plays the game and knows how to play the game and Same thing with Canyon.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
If Canyon, if Bobby Cremins hadn't gotten ill and had to pull out of coaching at College of Charleston after he left Georgia Tech, where my son Drew, John and Drew played for him, Canyon would have had an amazing college career because Bobby would have played him 38 minutes a game. He went there because of Bobby and then Bobby left.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
And then, you know, then he had a lot of other crazy experiences that it's not worth talking about. Yeah. Anyway, let's talk about some more pleasant things. My son was great. So I'm happy for him. He's now done with basketball. I'm more disappointed. He's off doing stuff and doing freaking hang gliding and all kinds of crazy stuff that scares me to death.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
And so I'm praying that everything goes well with him for that. He's got a job with L3 Harris, who was so good about allowing him the freedom to go on that tour to qualify for the Olympics. So grateful for that. He's got a new special lady in his life, Frances. I hope that all works out for him. So I'm happy for him. boys playing, especially with I'm watching him play in Mongolia.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I'm watching him play in Abu Dhabi. I'm watching him play all over the world. With Scooter, when Scooter was overseas and Drew played overseas a little bit as well after the NBA, you know, I had to fly overseas to go and see him play. I mean, so this made it a heck of a lot nicer.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Well, you know, when I gave up, when I started, when I retired, the hardest thing was to retire because I could still play. I had an operation and had my knee cleaned out and I hadn't felt so good in 10 years. And the NBA, this is telling you, in 1980 to save money, the NBA cut their rosters from 12 to 11 to save money. Now they've got 16 players and two two-way guys, like 18 guys. And so timings
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Celtics I already had talked to them until that and then they they cut it back to only 11 players and so I didn't go I would have played with Bird and McHale that would have been crazy I and then I went on tour and played with Pete Maravich a bunch of guys overseas I had I hadn't felt that good in 10 years honestly and so but it wasn't meant to be obviously but had I had it worked out would have been really good uh would have been crazy to get the chance to play for that team and I think we could have won some championships no doubt about it
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Yeah, I'm pretty good at pickleball. I've won multiple national championships in the U.S. Open and USA Pickleball Nationals. And I decided this year to take on another challenge. And so I hadn't played singles. I was worried how my knee would be with no cartilage to play singles. But I said, you know what? It's not going to be that difficult because I'm playing against so much older guys now.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
You know, two, three hits, maybe it's not going to be like you're out there killing yourself. So I practiced at the end of last year. I got a bunch of really good players and friends of mine in Florida where I spend the winters to work with me. And I went in the U.S. Open. and competed there and won the triple crown, singles, mixed doubles, and men's doubles.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
And I got a nice partner, Fred Shuey, in men's doubles. We've won a lot of titles together, and he's 80 years old as well. And then I found Sue Matthews, who we won the US Open. She played really well, and so I was able to do that. Because when you play doubles, It's all about your partner, because if your partner is not good, they're going to run through him.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
They're going to go and exploit your partner. So both of them did the job. We won convincingly. And then I just won the U.S. World Seniors in Utah and won the singles again there pretty easily. And my partner was Alice Tim, who was a former number 13 in the world during the Billie Jean King Day in tennis and played with Alice and Tim. won easily.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Well, you know, I don't think about it that way. I mean, I was just lucky enough to have a father who was a semi-pro player and coach who taught me the game the way the game is meant to be played. I had a great fundamental understanding of the game. And I think that's a critical thing in all you do in You can't build a tall skyscraper. That's redundant because the skyscraper is tall, obviously.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
And then also Freddie and I played and we won the men. So now I'm coming up for the USA Pickleball Nationals in another week and a half or so. And then I've got the US Senior Pickleball that I'll be playing in in December. So I'm trying to win the Triple Crown and those four things. You always got to have challenges.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
You know, I had gone to golf for long drive and golf and won four World Long Driving Championships there. And then they eliminated the old farts. So I had to find something else. And my wife suggested pickleball. So I'm
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
really immersed in that you know got a company called pickle zone that's going to be pretty interesting to see what happens just doing a lot of things in that world and and it's good you know using cell kirk you know use the cell kirk paddles which have been great for me and they're one of the top paddle manufacturers and just have a lot of fun stuff going on so uh yeah it's good life is life is great and health which is good because every time i turned around i was so sad when i heard about bill walton who was a friend that i used to go on bike rides with bill and
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
And then Jerry West, who I knew since a rookie year, we're friends. I mean, I knew he had a little health issues and the idea that it was that bad. So yeah, Chet Walker. I mean, I just go on and on. All these guys, a lot of them younger than me. Some of them are older, but most of them are younger and they're all passing away.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
So I wish their families all the best and sorry for their loss without question. But anything quick you want to get into, because I only got a couple of minutes because I have to get on another important phone call that I still work for a living. I still do a lot of business stuff mainly because, you know, you just have to do that. I didn't hear that word million in my contract negotiations.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Let me give you a couple of sites. You can put it on your sites and stuff. GoSleeves.com. You can. write these down. You can get them at gosleeves.com, allomd.com, and medisleeve, M-E-D-I-C-I-L-E-A-F.com. And the code is small R-B. My initial is 24 to get a discount on any of the products and any of those sites. Two of them are cannabinoid sites.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Unbelievable products that I use on a regular basis. Just incredible stuff. And the Go Sleeves are amazing. I mean, from my knee, they're a sleeve with kinesio tape built into them. Everybody that I've gotten into them says, Rick, these are unbelievable. Check them out. We got a lot of football players using them now. Runners are going nuts over it. If you have...
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
You got to wear some sleeves and you got issues with your calves or other things. Check that site out. Use the code for any of the products there on the Aloe MD one. It's Ultra Repair X is the cream that that I use all the time. But they got a lot of great products for women there. So feel free to use any of those that discount code on any of the products in those three sites.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
So we'll get a chance.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Yeah, well, we could talk another time. You know, give me a call next year when we're doing some stuff because I'm going to some going down. I'm doing something. I'm doing something down in Australia, actually going fishing in the South Island, New Zealand. I'm at the fly fishing as my two passions, pickleball and fly fishing. Stuff will be going on in the NBA or whatever it is.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I know I had to be a little short here. We couldn't get connected in time. So give me a call then and we'll do something. Meanwhile, I got to get on to the other call. I wish everybody blessed holiday seasons. And let's hope that things continue to improve for our country. And we stop with all this divisiveness and whoever is the president.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I think let's all work together to make this a great upcoming four years.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Thank you. My pleasure. Bye bye.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Thank you for tuning in to Mick Unplugged. Keep pushing your limits, embracing your purpose and chasing greatness. Until next time, stay unstoppable.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
You can't build a skyscraper on a small foundation because it'll topple over. So the bigger the foundation, the taller the building. Same thing if you're playing any sport, if you're doing anything. in music or whatever it may be, you have to learn the fundamental principles and concepts of whatever that is and give yourself the biggest foundation possible. Then you can build on that.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
And if you're blessed, especially in athletics with great natural ability, as far as coordination and things of that nature, you'll be able to maximize your full potential. There's a lot of guys in the NBA today who are there because they're so gifted athletically that they made it to the
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
because they don't have a real understanding of how to use all that God-given talent in the most efficient manner possible. So it's very difficult for me when I watch games, and especially when I'm listening to some of the broadcasters and talking about these players, and I say, what game are you watching? Why aren't you talking about this? Why aren't you talking about that?
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
They just are masters of the obvious. They talk about things that anybody in the world could possibly know. They're not really giving you an opportunity to teach you more about the game so you can understand it on a much more enjoyable basis or level.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Well, they say it's not IQ. It's just the knowledge, okay? You didn't have the high IQ. It's a matter of studying it and learning it and understanding it. Ball man relationships, screening off the boards, you know, learning how to put yourself in the right position to help your men to become a screener. You know, the terminology that they use in the game. I go crazy.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
And I know I haven't seen Jeff Van Gundy in years. He probably hates me because everybody's telling him, oh God, Rick Barry always talks about you. when he says about the fact that you're a coach in the NBA and you're talking about players setting a screen. You don't set a screen in basketball. You don't set anything. Setting a screen, that's just saying that you have to do something.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I have to set a screen. No, you don't. What you are is a stationary object. You have to learn to put yourself in the most advantageous position so that me, your teammate, so that... That I can use you effectively and turn you into a screener by running my man into you. You don't said anything. And so that's the part that drives me crazy.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Years ago, when I was really watching stuff and doing the broadcasting, I charted a Chicago Bulls Atlanta Hawk playoff game. 59 moving screens took place and the officials didn't call it. Fifty nine. Wow. Yeah. I mean, it's unbelievable. And then let's not even get into talking about carrying the ball. They carry the ball walking up the court.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I mean, if I could carry the ball, how are you going to guard me if I can carry the ball and do what they allow these guys to do? And then how about traveling? How about the extra step that they get to take? I mean, it's just it's so sad to watch the game. with the amazing talent of these young players. They have such incredible natural skill and talent.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I wish I'd been smart enough when I started in the pros to change the technique. I changed my technique late in my career.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
And I just watched them not doing the things the way that they should do it. And it just breaks my heart. And I had heard years ago when I talked to people about it, they say, yeah, well, we don't have the time to do the coaching because I didn't coach in the NBA level. We don't have the time. Well, make the time. You need to make the time to teach them.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
The problem is they're not being taught at the young age. So now you have to spend so much more time to break a bad habit. I tell people one of the easiest things in the world to do is develop a bad habit. One of the most difficult things to do is break that habit. Is to break it.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
So anyway, I love the game. I marvel at the incredible talent and skill. I mean, are you seeing where guys are shooting three shots from for three points now? I mean, it's crazy. They're shooting the ball from 28, 30 feet and they're shooting 40%. But the thing is, it's still use it efficiently. Use it at the right time.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
The best time to shoot a three point shot is three on two break if you don't have a layup. You have the best opportunity to
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
an offensive rebound because you have two guys with their back to the basket backing up trying to guard three guys running at them and if one guy pulls up and shoots it if there's no layup shoot the ball because you've got three guys moving towards the basket two guys only there you got a better chance of getting an offensive rebound than they do that's the most advantageous time to ever shoot a three-point shot why you should play up tempo go for the dunk if you can't get the dunker layup shoot the three you know and so but now it's like they're they are it's like they're forgetting the mid-range game that's always become a dying art form and then
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
The inefficiency at the free throw line of players, I really don't understand. And I say this every time I do any kind of a podcast or an interview. When is some... general manager or coach of an NBA team going to demand that their player learns how to shoot underhanded free throws to get himself up to a better percentage.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Welcome to Mick Unplugged, where we ignite potential and fuel purpose. Get ready for raw insights, bold moves, and game-changing conversations. Buckle up. Here's Mick.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
You are an employee getting paid millions of freaking dollars and you're telling, and you tell your boss, we're in the real world. Can you tell your boss that you're not going to do something he wants you to do to make his business better?
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I didn't want to do it. My father was a semi-pro player and coach did it that way. Back in those days, they shot two hands, set shots and two hands underhand. And so thank God he was relentless about it. I only did it to get him off my, he was driving me nuts. So I said, okay, let's do this. So I did it the summer before either my junior or senior year in high school. I remember which one it was.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I was a 70 something percent shooter. And I, When I started to do it, I gave it a sincere effort, really worked at it. And I said, wow, this is really good. I mean, I'm comfortable. I'm relaxed. I mean, everything you do is up here. You're guarding. You're playing your arms up here. I'm relaxed. My arms, I'm standing in a natural position. I have two hands to control the fly of the ball.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
It's been proven by, again, physicists that the softer shot, there's less moving parts. It's the most efficient way to do it. And so I said, yeah, this is great. And so I shot over 80%. I'm just getting better. And then I was smart enough. I wish I'd been smart enough. enough when I started in the pros to change the technique. I changed my technique late in my career.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
It's not IQ. It's just the knowledge. You didn't have the high IQ. It's a matter of studying it and learning it and understanding it. Ball man relationships, screening off the boards, learning how to put yourself in the right position to help your men to become a screener.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
And that's why I always admire Tiger Woods. He's the best freaking golfer in the world. He changed his swing twice wide to get better. He thought he could get better. So in my case, I thought I could get better. And so I figured out something to do. I tried it and it worked. My last six years, and I brag about this because it's the only part of the game you can be selfish and help your team.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I shot over 92% my last six years. My last two years, I shot over 94% from the free throw line. I only missed in my last two full seasons, I missed 19 total free throws, 19. Andre Drummond, when he was with the Pistons, missed 22 in one game.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
You probably took a lot of abuse. You probably took a lot of abuse from that.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
That's for sure.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
If Shaq had taken me up on my offer, Shaq would have won multiple more championships instead of a guy going to the bench because of the hack of Shaq. And to me, the most ludicrous thing that the NBA has done to me in all the years I followed and watched it, they put in a rule to protect someone who had horrible skill.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
One of the skills you should have as a basketball player on the professional level to protect that player. That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my life. Oh, it's ruining the game. No, what's ruining the game is a player not being able to shoot the ball efficiently from the free throw line.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
attack that that would be like baseball oh no let's take football since football season's on baseball's over now with the dodgers winning so let's take football so you would say that okay you're playing against let's say okay let's say i don't know where you live south carolina of south carolina okay so let's take one of the football teams down there and anybody whoever your quarterback is and they're playing against x team and this team okay well this defensive back is not really good on a deep route well you can only throw two deep routes to him you can't only you can only attack him twice because he's bad at that
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I mean, that's stupid. I mean, or the same thing. Okay, so you got a great guy doing stuff. You can't run to the left side because, I mean, you're putting in a rule saying that you should be able to do whatever you want to do in a game because what do you do? You exploit the weakness of your opponent.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
So if you've got a guy that's not good on deep routes, you're going to run deep routes at him all day long. I mean, but no, they're putting in a rule that doing in the last two minutes, you can't foul off the basketball. Yeah. OK, intentionally. That's what happened. We lost the game that way against Phoenix. We would have gone to the finals two years in a row if they had given that.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
We lost to Phoenix in game seven. We should have won a game that they fouled off the ball when I had it. And my teammate, unfortunately, missed the free throws and we lost the game in Phoenix, which we wouldn't have lost. It makes no sense to put a rule like that. And so I'm ashamed of the NBA for having done that. That's ridiculous.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
You should never put a rule in to protect the deficiency of a skill of the players in the game.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Well, yeah, I mean, my other boys didn't reach the same level as a couple of his sons in Arizona.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
better than he was and uh but they don't have the numbers okay i have five boys and all five got division one college scholarships and all five of them play professionally i mean the odds on that are so astronomical it's ridiculous i was hoping one of them would be good enough to play basketball and i have five of them to get division one college scholarships and all five play professionally and you know my one son just now can who made the olympics in 3x3 should have been in the nba but that's a whole nother story and people say well yeah it's just done you know no
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Trust me. If my son couldn't play, trust me, I'm not. I say my son can't play. But my son definitely should have been playing. I can throw out numbers and stuff now to show you why when he played for one of the teams. He was playing the team. The guy on the pro team for the NBA, he was shooting 26% from threes, 36% from twos, and 65% from the free throw line.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
My son was playing on the G League team. He was averaging. averaging 13 points a game on only seven shots coming off the bench, playing part-time, shooting 48 from twos, 40 from threes, and 85 from the free throw line, and he couldn't get a 10-day contract. The other guy was making $7 million.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
So you tell me what's going on, and I'm telling you, the problem with the NBA is that the general managers, if they make their decisions, they don't want to admit they made a mistake.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Yeah, that's my biggest that's my biggest disappointment. I didn't I tried out for the Olympics in 64. It was a political thing. They had a quota system that they had to pick from. all these teams. They lied to it. I didn't even get, I was one of the top scorers in the country. Didn't even get invited. Didn't even get invited to the trials.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
The only reason I got to go is Gary Bradds, who was at Ohio state back down at the last minute, they tracked me down. And so I went up there. I wasn't even in one of the initial invitees. And then they said, okay, you're going to be judged on what you do during the trials and the games that you're going to be playing. So I did what I had to do. I come off the bench. I did.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I thought I played really well. I, you know, I had to guard one of the best defensive guys on one of the AAU teams. And I thought I did a good job on him. And, you know, I scored points. I shot the ball. Well, Willie, Willie Morrell from, from K state played really well as also Wally Jones played really well. John Thompson never even got a chance to play. He was so mad.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Rick, how are you doing today, brother? I'm doing just great. If I was doing any better, I'd be making a comeback in the NBA.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I got a story there that I won't even tell. And so, yeah, so I walk off the court in St. John's when the crowd was yelling for me to get me back in the game when I had played well. I started the game, went to the bench and, you know, just basically sat on the bench and hardly played again. And Joe Lapchick, the former NBA player and coach at St.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
John's, very famous gentleman, comes up to me and says, and he's on the committee, right? He's young man, you're not going to make the Olympic team, but you're going to be a great pro basketball player. I'm going, whoa, wow. Okay. And I'm saying to myself, wait a second. I thought they played pretty good. And I thought they were supposed to evaluate this.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
Obviously, he already knew who was on the team. And I'll be perfectly honest with it. In the trials and do stuff, Bill Bradley did not play well. Okay. And he was a great college player. Did he deserve to be on the Olympic team then with averages? Absolutely, he did. You know, so he had a bad start. they'll try out.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
In fact, the United States is the only team in the only country in the world that they don't take their best players. You have to try out and you have to have a bad time trying out. A lot of times you don't make it in track and field. Do you have a bad day? You might not make the track and field team. You might have the world record and you won't be on the team.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
There's no other country in the world that would not take the world record holder in their country and force him to go to a tryout and not put him on the team.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
So it doesn't make any sense. So it's stuff like that that's really kind of interesting. So I was so happy for Canyon after he had, you know, the unbelievable the sad experience of not getting a chance in the NBA to really play, which I thought he was capable of certainly doing, and to get to be an Olympian. And then, sadly, Jimmer Fredette, you know, they were the top scorers on the team.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
They were the two best back then. You only get two and three on three, not three. It's a three-point shot, though. And from distance-wise, and... My son was number one and Jimmer was number two the whole year in the world tour. And so, you know, you lose Jimmer and they still lost three games by only two points. My son had two unbelievable games that they won.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
They almost had a chance to get to the medal round. Two free throws were missed, not by him, but two free throws were missed. missed it would have put him in the medal round playing with only three guys. So I was so happy for him to see the joy in his face and the experience that he had. And, you know, I told him in life, it's not everything happens for a reason.
Mick Unplugged
Rick Barry | Rick Barry's Sports Journey: From Professional Basketball to Pickleball Championships
I'm trying to. I've been trying for decades to get him to put the designated free throw shooter rule in, but they're not going for that.