WHILE the Philippine Basketball Association has yet to produce a father and two-son combination in its 39-year existence, the U.S. National Basketball Association has already accomplished the rate feat – and more.
Richard Francis Dennis (Rick) Barry III, a Hall of Famer who started his incandescent 14-year professional career in the NBA (1965-67) then moved to the now-defunct American Basketball Association (1968-72) before eventually returning to the NBA (1972-80), sent three sons to the NBA.
These are (from eldest to youngest) Jon Alan Barry (1992-98, 1999-2006), Brent Robert Barry (1995-2009) and Drew William Barry (1998-99, 1999-2000). Eldest brother, Richard Francis (Scooter) Barry IV, also played ball professionally but failed to make the NBA grade.
Dad Rick Barry is the only player in U.S. basketball history to lead the NCAA Division I (University of Miami Hurricanes, 1964-65 as a senior), NBA (San Francisco Warriors, 1966-67 as a pro sophomore) and ABA (Oakland Oaks, 1968-69) in scoring.
The 6-foot-7 forward from Elizabeth, New Jersey earned an ABA crown with the Oaks in 1969 and secured an NBA championship in 1975 after leading the Golden State Warriors to a 4-0 sweep of the heavily-favored Washington Bullets (now Wizards) in the best-of-seven Finals for which he was also named the series’ Most Valuable Player.
Best known for shooting his free throws underhanded (with an impeccable accuracy of .900 during NBA regular-season play and .875 in the playoffs), the 1966 NBA Rookie of the Year averaged 23.2 points in 794 regular games with the San Francisco-Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets and 24.8 ppg in 74 playoff appearances.
Rick, who will turn 70 on March 28, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987. Rick’s second son, Jon Alan, was the first to enter the NBA among the siblings.
The 6-foot-4 shooting guard’s circuitous college travelogue (1987-92) brought him to the University of the Pacific, Paris (Texas) Junior College and Georgia Tech before the Boston Celtics utilized their first-round selection in the 1992 NBA draft on him.
Because he refused to sign a guaranteed rookie deal with the Celtics, Jon’s rights were shipped to Milwaukee in December 1992. A journeyman that he was, Jon subsequently saw action for eight NBA franchises – Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks (two tours of duty), Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets.
The 44-year-old Jon, who posted averages of 5.7 points and 2.2 assists in 821 NBA regular games, is currently a television analyst for ABC and ESPN during their NBA telecasts.
Brent Robert is considered the most accomplished among the three Barry brothers, having been the first white player to win the NBA Slam Dunk Championship during the 1996 All-Star Weekend as a rookie swingman with the LA Clippers and being the only Barry sibling to own an NBA championship ring (two with the San Antonio Spurs in 2005 and 2007).
The 6-foot-6 Brent, who also topped the NBA in three-point field goal percentage (.476) with the Seattle SuperSonics in 2001, played collegiately at Oregon State University and was the Denver Nuggets’ top draft choice in the 1995 NBA grab-bag.
He never donned the Nuggets uniform as his rights were immediately peddled to the LA Clippers.Brent suited up for the Clippers, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Seattle SuperSonics, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets for 14 seasons from 1995-2009.
He owned NBA career norms of 9.3 scores, 3.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 912 regular appearances. In collecting his first of two rings with the Spurs in 2005, Brent joined dad Rick as the second father-and-son duo to each win an NBA championship as a player.
The first was Matthew George Guokas (1947 Philadelphia Warriors) and his son Matthew George Guokas Jr. (1967 Philadelphia 76ers). Only the duo of William Theodore (Bill) Walton (1977 Portland Trail Blazers and 1986 Boston Celtics) and his son Luke Theodore Walton (2009 and 2010 LA Lakers) has since turned in the trick.
Since his NBA-playing retirement in 2009, Brent has worked as a sports commentator and studio host for the NBA TV program “NBA Gametime.”
Drew William joined brother Jon Alan as a Georgia Tech product (from 1992-96 and the school’s all-time leader in assists) and was chosen by the Seattle SuperSonics with their second-round pick in the 1996 NBA draft.
Just before the 1996-97 season opener, the Sonics waived Drew and the 6-foot-5 guard toiled with the Fort Wayne Fury in the Continental Basketball Association for his roundball employment that campaign.
He played just three seasons in the NBA – 1997-98 with the Atlanta Hawks, 1998-99 with the Seattle SuperSonics and 1999-2000 with the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks.
Drew also played pro ball overseas – Israeli League (1988-99 during the NBA lockout), Australia’s National Basketball League (1999-2000 with the Sydney Kings), Italian League (2001 with Metis Varese and 2002 with Celana Bergamo) and Polish League (2002-03 with Prokom Trefl).