Jim Barnett (basketball)

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Jim Barnett
New Orleans Jazz
19751976New York Knicks
1977Philadelphia 76ers
Career highlights and awards
  • First-team All-AAWU (1966)
  • Second-team All-AAWU (1965)
  • Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor
Career NBA statistics
Points
8,536 (11.7 ppg)
Rebounds2,259 (3.1 rpg)
Assists2,232 (3.0 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

James Franklin Barnett (born July 7, 1944) is a former professional basketball player. He was the Golden State Warriors television analyst from 1985 to 2019,[1] and currently splits time with Tom Tolbert as the team's radio color analyst on 95.7 The Game.[2]

Basketball career

Youth and college career

Barnett was born in Greenville, South Carolina and raised in Riverside, California. He is a member of the Riverside Hall of Fame, and was selected as an NCAA All-American as a University of Oregon basketball player.

He is in the University of Oregon Hall of Fame and the State of Oregon Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the

Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor during the 2012 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament on March 10, 2012.[3]

Pro career

Barnett in 1970 as a Portland Trail Blazers player

Barnett's NBA career began when the Boston Celtics selected him with the eighth pick overall in the 1966 NBA draft.[4] He later played for the Warriors for three seasons (1971–74) and five other teams during his 11-year career, including the San Diego Rockets, the Portland Trail Blazers, the New Orleans Jazz, New York Knicks, and the Philadelphia 76ers.

While playing for the Trail Blazers in 1971, Barnett attempted a rushed long-range shot against the rival Los Angeles Lakers. His shot went in, prompting Blazers play-by-play announcer Bill Schonely to exclaim "Rip City! All right!" The phrase "Rip City", the meaning for which Schonely has no explanation, nonetheless caught on and became synonymous with the team and the city of Portland.[5]

Barnett played alongside many of the league's Hall of Famers, including Warriors stars Rick Barry and Nate Thurmond, as well as Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Pete Maravich and Julius Erving. Nicknamed "Crazy Horse", Barnett averaged 11.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 732 games.[6]

Broadcasting

Barnett currently works for NBC Sports Bay Area and was the Warriors' television analyst from the 1985–1986 NBA season, working alongside play-by-play announcer Bob Fitzgerald until the 2018—2019 NBA season. During the playoffs, or when games were nationally televised, he moved over to radio and worked alongside Tim Roye on KGMZ-FM's 95.7 The Game.

Beginning with the 2019—2020 NBA season, he became the Warriors' full-time color analyst on 95.7 The Game, and was replaced by fellow former player Kelenna Azubuike as the color commentator on NBC Sports Bay Area. Barnett joined Fitzgerald for the first Warriors home game telecast from the Chase Center in San Francisco, and travels with the team for road games.[7]

Personal life

Barnett married his wife Sandy in 1966. Divorced in 1998. They have one daughter named Jennifer, along with one granddaughter, Stella. [8]

References

  1. ^ Laird, Sam (January 23, 2015). "The golden voice". mashable.com. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  2. ^ "Warriors Announce 2021-22 Television and Radio Broadcast Schedules". NBA. September 21, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  3. ^ 2011-12 Hall of Honor Class Announced Archived 2012-02-12 at the Wayback Machine, Pac-12 Conference, February 7, 2012
  4. ^ 1966 NBA Draft
  5. ^ Quick, Jason (October 14, 2009). "Ill-advised shot from feisty guard leaves indelible mark on Blazers". The Oregonian. Retrieved October 15, 2009.
  6. ^ Jim Barnett stats at basketball-reference.com
  7. ^ Poole, Monte (26 July 2019). "Kelenna Azubuike to be Warriors TV game analyst; Jim Barnett to radio". Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  8. ^ Soonachan, Irv (30 July 2014). "Quite Frankly". SLAM. Retrieved 4 December 2017.

External links