NBA legend Rick Barry now dominating in a different sport
10/24/2024 11:48 AM
As an NBA Hall of Famer, Rick Barry is probably most well known for his “granny style” free throws. Now he’s showing off his skillset in another sport dominated by granny style (of a slightly different variety) — pickleball.
It should come as no surprise that an 80-year-old retiree is interested in playing pickleball. What is shocking is how fast Barry could take the sport up and promptly become the GOAT of his age group.
The Athletic interviewed Barry about his newfound passion and how he became a legit competitor in the sport so quickly. Barry still seems to ooze the same drive and passion that made him an eight-time NBA All-Star, four-time ABA All-Star and the MVP of the 1975 NBA Finals.
“I'm out there for one reason and one reason only: I'm out there to win, OK?” said Barry. “I can do the social thing afterward if you want to sit and socialize. But on the court, I really want to win.”
How did Warriors legend Rick Barry come to pickleball?
Barry came to pickleball after getting too frustrated with golf, but first he consulted with one of his fellow former athlete buddies, Jack Nicklaus. “I asked Jack Nicklaus, ‘Jack, I'm telling everybody I don't think you can master golf. Am I right or wrong?'” Barry recollected. In Barry’s words, Nicklaus told him, “You're 100 percent right.”
“So after I heard it from Jack Nicklaus,” Barry continued, “I said, ‘OK, why am I trying to kill myself?’ Because the better you get, the more frustrated you get. I said, ‘I gotta find something else.'”
His wife suggested pickleball in 2019.
“I said, ‘What the hell is pickleball?'” Barry admits. “I went out, tried it a little bit, and decided, yeah, this could be fun.”
Since then, Barry honed his game playing near his winter home in Florida at a famed pickleball enclave known as The Villages.
“They have a lot of great older players,” Barry explained. "I would get up at 6 in the morning, drive there and play pickleball all day.”
Now Barry is one of the highest ranked American players in his age-group. At the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships earlier this year, Barry won the Triple Crown — claiming the title for 80-plus men in the singles, doubles (with partner Fred Shuey) and mixed doubles (with Susan Mathews) divisions.
Last week, Barry won two more medals — this time at the Huntsman Senior World Games in St. George, Utah.
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Dominating a sport like basketball as a young man is difficult enough. Dominating the fastest-growing sport in America as an 80 year old is another thing entirely. And for the record — no, Rick Barry doesn’t serve the ball granny style.
Warriors great Rick Barry is now the kind of pickleball player you don't want to mess with. pic.twitter.com/YXNigCJZF4
— Daniel Brown (@BrownieAthletic) October 16, 2024
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