A Voice Crying In The Wilderness

But the Golden State years weren't without their controversies. In Barry's first two seasons back the Warriors were split over the issue of whom the team belonged to, Barry or high-scoring Forward Cazzie Russell. When Russell became a free agent and departed for L.A. for the 1974-75 season, the Warriors made Barry captain, and he responded with a stunning season. But it's unlikely that the Warriors would have won the championship had Clifford Ray, then new to the team, not rallied the players around Barry. "When I first got there, most of the guys didn't even talk to Rick," Ray says. "They got on me for being his friend. I called them in and told them, 'Rick is this team. He's a superstar. Now Rick may not be the kind of guy to say please, but he's in it to win. Maybe he does some things that bother you, but maybe you don't understand him, either. I'm telling you, we got to blend in with him. This man is our ticket.' "

The next season the Warriors won 59 games, tops in the league, but lost 94-86 to Phoenix in the seventh game of the Western Conference playoff final at home. Barry's performance in that game was uncharacteristic of so great a clutch performer. Barry had 14 points in the first half, but only six after that, taking only six shots in the second half.

It was suggested that Barry was so disgusted by his teammates' play that he deliberately removed himself from the offense, as if to say, "Go ahead, win it without me." Barry now says, "Anybody who knows me knows that there's no way in the world I'd intentionally do something that would jeopardize an opportunity to win a ball game, especially when we had a chance to win a championship. There's no way in the world I'd do that." He's angry now, banging his fist on the table. "I didn't pout. I didn't try to prove a point. It means too much to me to win."

Barry played three more years at Golden State. He wanted to finish his career there. In fact, he thought he and Mieuli had agreed in December of 1977 to a two-year extension of his Warriors contract. The extension gave Barry an option to buy 5% of the franchise when he retired, the same deal Attles has. But Barry forwent that and settled for a pay raise. At the time Barry was making $325,000 a year. The extension would have raised his salary to $445,000. But before Barry signed the contract Mieuli went away on a long cruise. By the time he got back in February, and he and Barry and Scotty Stirling, then Golden State's general manager, got together, the deal being offered was not the one Barry had assented to. When an agreement couldn't be reached Barry shopped himself on the open market. "It became obvious to me I wasn't wanted anymore," Barry says. "It wasn't Franklin Mieuli. Al didn't want me there."

Of all the teams Barry talked to, Houston showed the most interest in him. The Rockets had Moses Malone, Rudy Tomjanovich, Robert Reid, Calvin Murphy and John Lucas. With Barry they could think championship. Ray Patterson, the general manager, and Tom Nissalke, then the coach, thought it unlikely that the compensation that would be awarded the Warriors for Houston's signing of Barry would be either Malone or Tomjanovich, and they concurred that anyone else would be worth the move. They offered Barry $1 million for two seasons. Barry thought it would be perfection.

"It was the worst move I ever made," he says now. "What a zoo."

The Houston media put Barry on the hot seat before he ever put on the uniform, because the compensation turned out to be $100,000 and Lucas, the second-best assist man in the league. To justify signing Barry, the media argued, the Rockets had to win the championship. Nissalke responded by relegating Barry to passing forward, and he responded with 502 assists, the most ever for a true forward. But Nissalke's offense cost Barry eight shots a game, and his scoring average fell from 23.1 to 13.5. When the Rockets were swept by Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs, Nissalke was gone. Barry was pleased that his replacement was Assistant Coach Del Harris, who Barry thought would restore his role to its former eminence. But under Harris, Barry averaged only 25 minutes and 12 points a game. Barry thought Harris had betrayed him. By the time the Rockets were swept by Boston in the second round of the 1980 playoffs, Barry's NBA stock had dropped through the floor. He asked Patterson what kind of money the Rockets would offer him to come back. Patterson said $150,000. Barry didn't know whether to spit or go bowling.

Barry thought he could still play, but no one else did. He got in touch with the Lakers, the Sonics and the Knicks, but when they all passed, he retired. It bothers Barry that his career ended on a sour note. He never got a farewell tour, as Havlicek and West did. He never even got his jersey retired.

"I didn't expect anything," Barry says. "Seriously, if I'd had a grand tour, how would they have promoted it? Your last chance to boo Rick Barry?"

Would he have liked a ceremony?