Golden State Warriors: Top 10 NBA Draft picks in franchise history
By Frank Urbina
3. Rick Barry (SF) — No. 2 pick in 1965 NBA Draft
Career stats (as a Warrior): 642 GP, 25.6 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 5.1 APG, 2.3 STL, 0.5 BLK, 45.0 FG%, 89.6 FT%
One of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players, Rick Barry checks in at No. 3 on our countdown.
Throughout his absurdly impressive (and kinda fascinating) career, which included a jump to the ABA in the middle of his prime, the University of Miami grad made eight All-Star rosters, five All-NBA First Teams, one All-NBA Second Team and led the league in scoring in 1966-67 at 35.6 points per game.
Barry also owns a Finals MVP trophy for his contributions during the 1975 championship series. During the four-game sweep over the Washington Bullets, the underhand free throw shooter averaged 29.5 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals nightly and hit 93.8 percent of his attempts from the foul stripe while shooting them…wait for it…underhanded!
It’s almost incomprehensible Barry was a career 89.3 percent free throw shooter while taking them in a manner referred to as “granny style.” But he did, so kudos, I suppose.
To this day, the 6’8″ wing is No. 2 in Warriors history in points (16,447), No. 3 in steals (929), No. 2 in field goals made (6,466) and No. 4 in assists (3,247). Had he not made that aforementioned move to the ABA for four years of his prime, he’d rank even higher in each of those categories, too.
Regardless, Barry is still easily one of the greatest Warriors ever.