Other NBA standouts in attendance were Otis Birdsong, Artis Gilmore and Michael Ray Richardson. They were joined by baseball’s Wade Boggs and Hal McRae, and former NFL greats Bo Jackson, Billy Joe DuPree, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, AJ Duhe and Nat Moore.
Ironically, Barry, who was noted for criticizing officials during his playing days and later as a broadcaster, believes all the hoopla over the officiating has been overblown.
The 6-foot-7 Barry scored more than 25,000 points in his pro career and was an uncanny long-range shooter.
He led the nation in scoring his senior year at Miami (37.4 ppg), the NBA in 1967 (35.6 ppg) and the ABA in ’69 (34 ppg), and he led the NBA and ABA a combined nine times in free throw percentage.
Still, he can’t fathom how Boston’s Ray Allen sets a record with eight three-pointers in Game 2 and then misses 13 straight from beyond the arc over the next two games.
Barry is most proud that two of his sons, Brett and Jon, followed him in the NBA and then into broadcasting. Rick and Brent are only one of two father-son duos to win an NBA title.
Richardson has been to all eight of the galas to help raise money for the 13th Avenue Dream Center and says he wouldn’t miss it for anything. He and Birdsong are picking the Lakers to win.
Birdsong, who has a sports marketing company, was an NBA point guard for 12 seasons and finished his career with 12,544 points. He says the antics of Boston’s Nate Robinson, who taunted several Lakers in Game 4, could backfire against his team.
“It could come back to haunt him. You don’t want to try and show your competitor up, and the Lakers are not going to forget that,” Birdsong said.
A Florida native, he currently lives in Little Rock, Ark., hometown of Lakers guard Derek Fisher.