Dick Barnett, 1936-2025

Photo: Dick Barnett goes for a layup against the St. Louis Hawks’ Lenny Wilkens. Courtesy of Focus on Sport, 1967.

*Cover photo credit to Dan Raphael, NBAE 1972. Dick Barnett shoots a baseline jump

shot over the Los Angeles Lakers’ Wilt Chamberlain.

Hall of Fame guard Richard “Dick” Barnett passed away over the weekend in Largo, Fla. He was 88.

Barnett, born in Gary, Indiana, played his high school ball at Theodore Roosevelt High School, where he led the Panthers to the state championship game as a senior, a loss to Crispus Attucks High School - a team that was led by future Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson. The contest was the first ever between two predominantly black high schools in the Indiana state championship game. 

In college, Barnett played at Tennessee State (then Tennessee AI), for the Tigers who were led by Hall of Fame coach John McClendon. McClendon later became the first African-American coach to head coach a predominantly white institution, at Cleveland State University.

For his college career, Barnett averaged 23.6 points and 11.6 rebounds on 44.8% shooting in 136 games. Three times, he was an NAIA All-American and Associated Press Little College All-American (1957-1959). In 1958 and 1959, he was also a United Press International Small College All-American. 

From 1957-59, the Tigers were NAIA champions, and Barnett was named NAIA Championship MVP in ‘58 and ‘59. In 2007, he was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2012 was named to the NAIA’s 75th anniversary All-Star team. 

In the 1959 NBA Draft, Barnett was selected fifth overall by the Syracuse Nationals in a draft that saw Wilt Chamberlain go No. 1. 

Barnett played two seasons in Syracuse, averaging 12.4 points per game as a rookie in 57 games (41.2%) and in 78 games as second-year player 16.9 points per game (45.2%). 

For 1961-62, Barnett suited up for the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League before rejoining the NBA in 1962 with the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Barnett played 80 games in 1962-63, playing 31.8 minutes per game and averaging 18.0 points on 47.1% shooting. The following season, he averaged 18.4 points on 45.2% shooting. He played 232 games over three seasons in Los Angeles, averaging 44.8% on 14 shots per game for 16.8 points. 

For the 1965-66 season, Barnett joined the New York Knicks via an October 14, 1965 trade for forward Bob Boozer. In his first season in the Big Apple, Barnett averaged a career-high 23.1 points on 46.9% (75 games, 34.5 minutes) shooting. Two seasons later, Barnett was named to his lone all-star team, playing 81 games and averaging 18.0 points in 30.7 minutes on 14 shots. 

Twice an NBA champion, Barnett was an integral part of the 1970 champion Knicks, a 60-win team. At age 33, Barnett, with his distinct “fall back baby” jump shot in which he would kick his legs back, averaged 14.9 points on 47.5% in the regular season, and scored 21 points on 9-for-20 shooting in the Knicks’ Game 7 clincher over the Lakers, providing assistance to Walt Frazier, who registered 36 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 assists in the game for the Knicks’ first championship. 

Barnett’s final double-digit scoring season came in 1971-72 when he averaged 12.2 points on 12 shots (79 games, 28.6 minutes) 

After the 1973-74 season, Barnett retired at age 37. He finished his career with a points per game average of 15.8, on 45.6% on 14 attempts per game on average. He played 971 career games and averaged 29.8 minutes per game. In nine seasons with the Knicks, the lefty averaged 15.6 points on 13 shots (46.4%). After retiring, he served as Red Holzman’s assistant coach with the Knicks.

During his career, a major injury for Barnett was a torn Achilles tendon suffered in the 1966-67 season. It was this injury that enabled him to go back to school. In doing so, he earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from California Polytechnic State University, a master’s degree in public administration from New York University and a doctorate in education and communications from Fordham University. He was up until 2007 a Sport Managment professor at St. John’s University.

The Knicks retired Barnett’s No. 12 in 1990. In 2024, Barnett received a long overdue induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. 

A trademark jump shot and a dependable player on a historic championship team.

RIP, Dick Barnett.