Dick Barnett helped The Knicks in a strange jumping style in the glorious era of the 1970s and played in just two NBA championship teams in Knicks history, he died last night in Largo, Florida. He is 88 years old.
The Knicks announced their death on social media on Sunday, shortly after a huge victory in the first-round playoff series against the Detroit Pistons. Danielle Naassana, the producer of a PBS documentary about Barnett and his college career, said he has become increasingly weak in recent years, but does not seem to have a fatal illness.
Barnett was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in April 2024 for his men’s veterans class.
Barnett played for 14 seasons in the NBA, playing with Barnett, teaming up with Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe, among the defenders, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley and Dave Debusschere under coach Red Holzman.
The Knicks won the NBA championship in 1970 and 1973 with smart, selfless games and tenacious defense, which complemented their scoring power. Barnett demonstrates a full range of court skills, but the most remembered is the release of jumpers in forms that have never been seen before or since.
His legs flew back as he fired his signature left-handed shot from the 6-foot-4-inch frame. He is similar to the shooter, who takes a high-intensity shot from his left ear while telling the player that it’s too late, and instructing his teammates to “retreat” because there is no need for offensive rebounds.
When Barnett plays with the Los Angeles Lakers, their long-time broadcaster Chick Hearn will yell, “Fall, baby” when Barnett shoots.
Barnett led Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State University (now Tennessee State University) (Tennessee State University), one of the historical black colleges and universities in Southern history, and three consecutive National College Competition National Championship Associations from 1957 to 1959, playing for future future Hall of Fame coach John McLendon.
McLendon recalled how Barnett “lifted up at a 40-degree angle” on the jumper team in 1991.
“It’s undefensive,” McClendon said. “When he hit the floor, he often lost his balance; sometimes he exaggerated it. At one point, he fell in the second row after the shooting.”
Barnett told Times Sportswriter Harvey Araton that his book When the Garden Is Eden (2011) told Times Sportswriter (2011). “It was on the playground that I even learned how to perform shootings without knowing what I was doing in high school.”
The Syracuse Nationals selected Barnett in the first round of the 1959 NBA Draft. He played for them for two seasons, then played the brief American basketball league for George Steinbrenner’s Cleveland Pipers and coached by McLendon at the beginning of the season. He then spent three seasons with the Lakers, playing with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. They traded him to Knicks forward Bob Boozer in October 1965.
Barnett, along with Reed in his second season, was the first major building block of the Knick franchise and has struggled for years. He averaged a career-high 23.1 points per game in his first season with New York and was the only All-Star team in his career in 1968.
When the Knicks won the 1970 NBA championship, he played in the backcourt with Frazier, defeating the Lakers in seven finals. Reed died in 2023 and provided the Knicks with an unforgettable emotional lift in Game 7, with a serious injury to his leg against Wilt Chamberlain while Frazier hit 37 points and Barnett scored 21 points.
Barnett entered his final season when the Knicks won the championship again in 1973, beating the Lakers in five games, playing in the backup games of Frazier, Monroe and Dean Meminger.
He became Holtzman’s assistant coach next season, returning to five games in five games, filling five games with injuries and then substituting with 15,358 career points, averaging 15.8 points per game.
Barnett is stylish on the court and outside the field.
Holzman said he met Barnett with the Nationals when he was searching for the Knicks at the time. First time entering Old Madison Square Garden. He recalled in his memoir The Knicks (1971 with Leonard Lewin), “He walked in in a Chesterfield coat, Homeburg, striped pants, spit and an umbrella on the umbrella.”
Richard Barnett was born on October 2, 1936 in Gary, Indiana, to his father of an Iron and Steel Works. He starred in the high school basketball team before participating in Tennessee A&I.
From 1957 to 1959, his team won the back-to-back championship at the National College Track and Field Association, a smaller conference than the National College Sports Association. This is the first black college basketball team to win any national championship.
The recent documentary focuses on Barnett’s efforts to earn greater recognition for the team, which ultimately led to their collective admission to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Barnett did not graduate, but although he was a Laker, he received his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Cal Poly. In 1991, he received his Master of Public Administration from New York University and his PhD in Education from Fordham University.
His survivors include an older sister, Jean Tibbs. He has lived primarily in New York for decades and moved to Florida last year.
In March 1990, the Knicks held up the banner with Barnett’s 12th place and another article “613”, representing Holzman’s victory as Knicks coach.
In February 2023, Barnett joined his surviving former teammate from the 1972-73 championship roster to celebrate 50 commemorative celebrations in the Garden half-time. Bradley sat the fragile Barnett in a wheelchair and received applause from fans. The Knicks have not won the championship since 1973.
In a 1971 memoir, Holzman praised Barnett’s shooting.
“He has such a great basketball instinct,” Holzman said. “He grabbed things faster than anyone else.”
The night before Barnett and Holzman were respected, Barnett recalled a long road trip.
“Some players think that even if we might miss the curfew, even if we go to the hotel burlesque, it will improve our eyesight,” he said. But we went to the burlesque. We do see things we shouldn’t see. We saw the red. ”
Alex Traub Contribution report.
