Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry might be known as much for his fiery competitiveness as he is for his legendary scoring ability and underhanded free throw shooting during a professional playing career that spanned from 1965-80.
His four oldest sons, Scooter, Jon, Brent and Drew — all of whom have played basketball professionally — were known to be competitive with each other growing up. They fought over who was the best at everything, from checkers to basketball, and that competitive spirit stemmed from their dad.
“He’s competitive about everything,” Drew Barry, who played basketball at Georgia Tech and later in the NBA and overseas, said about his dad. “You could be playing Scattergories, and he’d want to kick your butt.”
For years after Rick Barry retired, there was no outlet for the constant need for competition that occasionally rubbed opponents and even teammates the wrong way. The most difficult part of retiring from basketball, Barry said, was that he missed the competition.
It wasn’t until three years ago, when his wife Lynn introduced him to pickleball, that Barry found something to fill that void. He knew little about the fastest growing sport in America, with participation in the sport increasing 21.3% from 2019-20, but he decided to pick up a paddle and give it a try.
More: Pickleball champions: Anna Leigh Waters, Tyson McGuffin, Riley Newman all win double-gold
More: Pickleball Points: Gift ideas for the players on your holiday shopping list
Once he learned about the game and realized that he could play at a high level deep into his 70s, he sought to be around it, and close to some of the sport’s elite players. Doing that helped accelerate his ability and quickened his learning curve.
“I just got hooked on it,” Barry said. “Now I love it.”
Though he’s now 77 and has played competitively for only about two years, Barry is already establishing himself as one of the sport’s top players in his age group. He’s playing this week at the Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Barry teamed with Paul Hudanich to win his first four matches in senior doubles on Monday to advance into the championship.
The event, referred to as the biggest tournament of the year on the sport’s calendar, and has included some of the sport’s biggest stars, such as Tyson McGuffin, Lucy Kovalova and Matt Wright. The eight-day tournament will conclude Tuesday, having hosted more than 2,200 players on 49 courts.
Perhaps the biggest name among them will be the 6-foot-7 man who will be hard to miss on a pickleball court.
“He’s not just playing for fun,” Canyon Barry, Rick’s fifth son, said. “He wants to win.”
To fuel that desire to win at everything, Rick Barry turned to tennis after retiring from basketball in the 1980s, following 12 all-star appearances in 14 seasons in the NBA and ABA. But the constant movement during a tennis match — the starting and stopping — was hard on his body as he got older, so he had to give the sport up.
He turned to fly fishing and his youngest son and his wife would joke that he was the most competitive person in the world when it came to a typically non-competitive activity.
“He’d come back and we’d ask him how it went, and he’d give us the statistics,” said Canyon Barry, who plays guard for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA’s G-League. “‘I saw 37 fish, had 15 nibbles and of those I got three hooks.’ I think pickleball fills that competitive void much better.”
After a few months of playing pickleball recreationally, Barry set a goal for himself to win some “sort of major title.” He didn’t exactly have a particular tournament in mind, but he wanted to again feel the joy of competition, and victory, that he once felt playing professional basketball.
That happened last April when, in Naples, Fla., he won gold medals at the pickleball U.S. Open in mixed doubles and men’s doubles. He and Linda Brunner won the 4.5, 70-74 age division, and he and Tony Upkes won the 4.0, 70-74 age division.
The rating (1-5) represents the quality of competition, with 1 typically beginners and 5 being the top players in the world. Ratings are used to match players and teams in a tournament.
In October, Barry and Tod Meyer won gold in the 4.5, 70-74 division at the World Senior Games in St. George, Utah. Barry has also played in smaller tournaments in divisions 10-15 years younger.
Barry has some unique advantages in pickleball. He said his height allows him to see the court better than most players and he can reach certain balls that other players cannot.
Last year when Barry was in Atlanta, where Drew lives, father and son organized a game with some of Drew’s friends, who play recreationally and talk plenty of trash to each other. Despite the age difference, Rick’s strengths stood out.
“He definitely has great hands, he’s got great touch, he’s got a lot of reach, which helps,” Drew Barry said. “He’s got good third shot drops. He plays a typical game, not a lot of drives from the baseline but trying to win the game at the net.”
Although the elder Barry has no cartilage in his left knee, his body has held up well for a player his age who has not played the sport very long. That’s a testament to his fitness and unrelenting desire to stay active as he ages.
“My dad is, for his age, just in great shape,” Drew Barry said. “So, I think he’s just going to dominate that age group. I think he’s probably more capable than most. It shows how good he is that he’s playing down into the 60s and he’s 77.”
A bicycle accident about three years ago confined Barry to a wheelchair for three months. But he wasn’t down for long. He used the situation as an opportunity to motivate himself, and pickleball as an excuse to stay in shape.
“I’ve got more pins and rods and screws in me,” Barry said, “but I don’t always know that they’re there and I’m still able to do everything I did before, so I’m grateful for that.”
Barry said that he wishes he had been much younger, like his sons, when he discovered pickleball. He retired from professional basketball at the age of 36. Had the sport been around then, well, he can’t help but think of how good he could’ve been.
But he’s trying to make up for lost time now. He says he has not lost the competitiveness that helped make him an elite basketball player, and he has one clear goal this week at Indian Wells.
“I always play expecting to win,” Barry said with a chuckle. “Until somebody beats us, I’m going out there thinking we’re going to win.”
Andrew John covers sports for The Desert Sun and the USA Today Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com and find him on Twitter at @Andrew_L_John.
Credit: Source link
