RIP: Dick Barnett

[bballoctober]

Would like to see Earl the Pearl courtside if he's up to it (80 years now). Gotta remember him also!!!

Funny thing that you mentioned him, Randle was at his event right before he got traded and that was the last time I heard of Earl the pearl in Knicks’ affairs.

[WaltFrazier]

Would like to see Earl the Pearl courtside if he's up to it (80 years now). Gotta remember him also!!!

I remember Pearl playing for the Bullets against the Knicks in 70 and 71. Two fantastic 7 game series, with the Bullets winning in 71, on a Wes Unseld block on Bill Bradley's corner J. The next year Earl came to the Knicks.

That Bullets team played with a lot of flair and a great running game. Earl was so exciting with the spin dribble, matched up with Clyde. Willis vs big Wes, Debusschere vs Gus Johnson, Dollar Bill vs Jack Marin. Great rivalry.

[8516knicks]

Earl on the bullets from what i remember was great. Like if we got Shigeleous now (just for scoring).

[JulesWinnfield]

The first game I ever attended was the game they were retiring his number. I was like 9 years old, I had no idea who he was and didn’t appreciate the moment. They waited a long time to retire his number, he was done in 74 but it was either 90 or 91 in a home game against the nets when the jersey went up

[Clyde_Style]

:D Earl on the bullets from what i remember was great. Like if we got Shigeleous now (just for scoring).

Not a bad comp. Earl with even better handles and more slick moves though, sometimes like Kyrie.

[8516knicks]

:D Earl on the bullets from what i remember was great. Like if we got Shigeleous now (just for scoring).

Not a bad comp. Earl with even better handles and more slick moves though, sometimes like Kyrie.

Earl was the man on the Bullets. But what did I know, it was like kindergarden. He blended in with the Knicks but before that the stats say he put up BUNCHES of points.

[Clyde_Style]

:D Earl on the bullets from what i remember was great. Like if we got Shigeleous now (just for scoring).

Not a bad comp. Earl with even better handles and more slick moves though, sometimes like Kyrie.

Earl was the man on the Bullets. But what did I know, it was like kindergarden. He blended in with the Knicks but before that the stats say he put up BUNCHES of points.

True. He was THE MAN on the Bullets. Strange that they traded him to the Knicks.

Two guys of note from those Bullets teams, Wes Unseld and Gus Johnson. Wes was the shortest center in the league but he was thick and a leading rebounder. Gus at PF scored and boarded at numbers just below Wes which made them one of the best rebounding frontlines around. Got them those second chance shots.

[WaltFrazier]

Not a bad comp. Earl with even better handles and more slick moves though, sometimes like Kyrie.

Earl was the man on the Bullets. But what did I know, it was like kindergarden. He blended in with the Knicks but before that the stats say he put up BUNCHES of points.

True. He was THE MAN on the Bullets. Strange that they traded him to the Knicks.

Two guys of note from those Bullets teams, Wes Unseld and Gus Johnson. Wes was the shortest center in the league but he was thick and a leading rebounder. Gus at PF scored and boarded at numbers just below Wes which made them one of the best rebounding frontlines around. Got them those second chance shots.

I think they traded Earl to the Knicks for financial reasons. There was no cap then but the Bullets were not a wealthy team and didn't want to pay Earl. They traded him for Dave Stallworth and Mike Riordan. Gus Johnson was I think the first NBA player to break a backboard or rim on a dunk, in the 60s long before Darryl Dawkins did it.

Gus had bad knees and didn't play much longer after the Monroe trade. The Bullets retooled pretty soon, with a backcourt of Archie Clark and Phil Chenier, and adding Elvin Hayes alongside big Wes. The Knicks beat them in the 74 playoffs in the last good year of that Knicks core. The Bullets won the East in 75 with Riordan having become starting SF, but were swept by the underdog Warriors in the Finals, with Rick Barry dominating. Bullets retooled again moving from Baltimore to DC, and were back in the Finals in 78 and 79, beating Seattle first time then losing to them the next year. Still had Unseld and Hayes but a mostly new cast around them from the 75 team. One of the most successful teams of the 70s.

[Clyde_Style]

Earl was the man on the Bullets. But what did I know, it was like kindergarden. He blended in with the Knicks but before that the stats say he put up BUNCHES of points.

True. He was THE MAN on the Bullets. Strange that they traded him to the Knicks.

Two guys of note from those Bullets teams, Wes Unseld and Gus Johnson. Wes was the shortest center in the league but he was thick and a leading rebounder. Gus at PF scored and boarded at numbers just below Wes which made them one of the best rebounding frontlines around. Got them those second chance shots.

I think they traded Earl to the Knicks for financial reasons. There was no cap then but the Bullets were not a wealthy team and didn't want to pay Earl. They traded him for Dave Stallworth and Mike Riordan. Gus Johnson was I think the first NBA player to break a backboard or rim on a dunk, in the 60s long before Darryl Dawkins did it.

Gus had bad knees and didn't play much longer after the Monroe trade. The Bullets retooled pretty soon, with a backcourt of Archie Clark and Phil Chenier, and adding Elvin Hayes alongside big Wes. The Knicks beat them in the 74 playoffs in the last good year of that Knicks core. The Bullets won the East in 75 with Riordan having become starting SF, but were swept by the underdog Warriors in the Finals, with Rick Barry dominating. Bullets retooled again moving from Baltimore to DC, and were back in the Finals in 78 and 79, beating Seattle first time then losing to them the next year. Still had Unseld and Hayes but a mostly new cast around them from the 75 team. One of the most successful teams of the 70s.

Kind of like the Knicks. Ever since then the Bullets have mostly been marching through the desert looking for the promised land.

[Dave_R]

Clyde said Earl was his toughest opponent.

[Luv those Knicks]

Earl was the man on the Bullets. But what did I know, it was like kindergarden. He blended in with the Knicks but before that the stats say he put up BUNCHES of points.

True. He was THE MAN on the Bullets. Strange that they traded him to the Knicks.

Two guys of note from those Bullets teams, Wes Unseld and Gus Johnson. Wes was the shortest center in the league but he was thick and a leading rebounder. Gus at PF scored and boarded at numbers just below Wes which made them one of the best rebounding frontlines around. Got them those second chance shots.

I think they traded Earl to the Knicks for financial reasons. There was no cap then but the Bullets were not a wealthy team and didn't want to pay Earl. They traded him for Dave Stallworth and Mike Riordan. Gus Johnson was I think the first NBA player to break a backboard or rim on a dunk, in the 60s long before Darryl Dawkins did it.

Gus had bad knees and didn't play much longer after the Monroe trade. The Bullets retooled pretty soon, with a backcourt of Archie Clark and Phil Chenier, and adding Elvin Hayes alongside big Wes. The Knicks beat them in the 74 playoffs in the last good year of that Knicks core. The Bullets won the East in 75 with Riordan having become starting SF, but were swept by the underdog Warriors in the Finals, with Rick Barry dominating. Bullets retooled again moving from Baltimore to DC, and were back in the Finals in 78 and 79, beating Seattle first time then losing to them the next year. Still had Unseld and Hayes but a mostly new cast around them from the 75 team. One of the most successful teams of the 70s.

Yup. That's what it was. Earl wanted more money than they were willing to pay him, so Earl's agent asked the team to trade him.

The Bullets, as you say, had some success after trading Earl, so props to them. Unlike the last few years, where they've been pretty lousy.

[Luv those Knicks]

We seem to be getting off topic a bit, but it's fun looking at history.

Her's a fun fact. The last time the Bullets/Wizards won 50 games was 78-79 when they lose to the Sonics in the finals. Since then, they've won 47 or more games, just once, in 2016-17.

They've lost 50 or more games 16 times since 1989. That's a pretty bad stretch. Even when the Knicks were bad, and they had a bad couple of decades, but not 36 years of mosty bad. hehe.

OK, back to the regularly scheduled program.

[WaltFrazier]

Dick's championship ring going to auction.

https://www.si.com/nba/knicks/news/new-york-knicks-dick-barnett-championship-ring-goes-auction