The greatest beginner seasons in NBA history share a number of qualities, starting with individual statistical domain. However, you can’t overlook the context beyond the box score; initial expectations, team success and general legacy are all important.
As we wait for the 2019-20 season to resume, theScore NBA editors have dusted off record books to determine the 25 best beginner seasons in the history of the league.
Number 15 in our series is the Golden State Warriors legend Rick Barry. Stay up to date on previous series posts here.
Before the Association
The Miami Hurricanes basketball program is not steeped in history, but for three seasons, one of the sport’s most explosive scorers has called home school. From 1962 to 1965, Barry averaged 29.8 points with 52.2% of throws and also grabbed 16.5 boards per race. The 6-foot-7 forward ended his collegiate career with a 37.4 points per NCAA game at the head of the road to earn the first team’s All-American honors.
Behind Barry’s dominant show, Miami has recorded three consecutive seasons of 20 wins for the first time in school history. In 1976, he became the first hurricane to withdraw his number and remains the all-time leader of the points and rebounds program.
Draft
The then-San Francisco Warriors owned the first two selections in the 1965 NBA Draft and chose Fred Hetzel and Barry respectively first and second overall respectively. Famous players selected later include the late Jerry Sloan and four-time All-Star Billy Cunningham.
Future Hall of Famers Bill Bradley and Gail Goodrich were also in Barry’s draft class and everyone was taken with territorial draft choices. San Francisco lost its workhorse when it swapped Wilt Chamberlain midway through the 1964-65 campaign and needed a perimeter threat to complement Nate Thurmond’s bruise internal game.
Individual success
Barry’s offensive assault continued to the next level, where he paid 25.7 points per game to finish fourth in the Association during his 1965-66 Rookie of the Year campaign. The New Jersey native has plagued opponents with his outside shooting and cutting jokes, which often led to a trip on the free throw line.
Using his sneaky shooting technique, Barry ended his inaugural NBA season with the fifth attempt of the benefit band (660) and finished second in free throw percentage (86.2%). He also earned a nod to the All-Star, honors from the first All-NBA team and ranked tenth in rebound (10.6 cards per game).
Team success
With Barry in the fold, the Warriors have won 18 games more than the previous year and left the league cellar. The San Francisco score increased by nearly 10 points per game, as six different players averaged at least two digits. Veteran guard Guy Rodgers delivered 10.7 assists per game to finish second in the Association. Meanwhile, Thurmond was fourth among his peers with an average of 18 boards.
The Warriors almost rode their high octane offense in the postseason of 1965-66, but were eventually overcome by their side game on the other side. The club’s 35-45 score left them behind in a game from the last Western Division playoff.
Lasting inheritance
Barry probably had his best season a year later, dropping 35.6 points per race to clinch his only NBA title. He was the MVP of the 1967 All-Star Game and later led San Francisco to the finals, where he pushed Chamberlain’s dominant 76ers to six games.
Barry’s 55-point effort against Philadelphia in Game 3 remains the second highest single in the history of the finals, while his 40.8 points per race were a record in the league series until Michael Jordan beat him 26 years later.
The six times chosen by the All-NBA left the Warriors following the 1966-67 campaign due to a wage dispute, but returned to the organization in 1972 after a successful adventure in the ABA. Three years later, Barry was named Finals MVP while driving the franchise on his first NBA title in the Bay Area. He is the only player to lead NCAA, NBA and ABA in the score. In 1996, the eight-time All-Star was chosen as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.
Come back Tuesday to see who made it to 14th in the Top 25 series of the debut seasons ofScore.
