Jamaal Wilkes wrote in his autobiography that once he realized that Rick Barry was harder on himself than anyone else, he understood him better. He also wrote that while some stars would shout at the other players, seeing Rick try desperately NOT to snap on someone was much scarier lol He was equally complimentary of Barry as he was of Magic.
@@therealbs2000 i dont have stats dude but since you brought that up whos the player with the most point in NBA History and what shot he uses nuff said
@@miorionomichi oh hi there, nice to see the "karl malone is the second leading scorer ever the flat footed fadeaway long 2 is an underrated and deadly weapon" argument again
Shaq is probably the most self conscious player of all time, his ego is threatened and bruised so easily. Just look at his comments regarding Dwight winning a ring this year or every argument with Barkley where he just says “how many rings chuck?” When he feels like he is losing the argument
@@nocuh Shaq is worse than bron. Atleast bron keeps his narcissistic tendencies behind doors most of the time and uses the people around him to speak his mind. Shaq just lashes out.
@@TheIcemanthomas you pretty much made my point. Shaq is self-conscious because of his size so he cultivated an even bigger personality; Man is a roastmaster from the east coast who is always going to bust balls and joke around. His natural move is to dominate, on or off court and just wings it in the moment, as evidenced by his performance on inside the nba. He only started doing show prep and really paying attention to the others’ analysis after getting roasted on air. Still remains most entertaining off the cuff. Lebron has the most calculating, cunning basketball mind in nba history and how he controls his public image is testament. The Decision is his only real misread of the room, where the fallout and unrelenting scrutiny affected his 2010-11 season and unceremonious finals performance. He was self-conscious before all that but those events forced him to reflect and change to take the next step and become a ruthless champion. Credit where due.
I had the pleasure of seeing Barry play quite a bit and Rick played the right way. Yes, he didn't care what anybody else thought but his overall game and free throw shooting was masterful. People always bring up Barry's disagreeable personality but Barry did play outstanding team basketball and was a top HOF performer at the very least.
I saw a lot of home games in Oakland when I was a kid. You’re right it was an absolute pleasure. Rick Barry was one of the greatest players I ever saw.
Gladwell is a total fraud, who has no business carrying Peterson's jock, intelligence-wise. When I listened to his podcast on the failure to adopt the underhand free throw I knew something was wrong -- I had SEEN Wilt shooting underhanded free throws both before and after his trade to the 76ers in 1964 , and he was terrible at it. Yet Gladwell's thesis was that Wilt had been a great underhand free throw shooter in his 100 point game in 1962 (true: 28 of 32) and generally (false: he was around 60% in that season, and then got much worse WHILE STILL SHOOTING UNDERHANDED in subsequent seasons), but had dropped it because he didn't like looking like a granny at the line. Which is very convenient for Gladwell's primary money making enterprise, which is giving corporate speeches. You got a bit of the flavor of that here, when he was talking about entrepreneurs needing to not care about what anyone else thinks. Only problem: It's total BS. Yes, he interviewed Barry.... who talked about how bad Wilt's underhand form was, which Gladwell totally ignored. There's a TH-cam "video" of that podcast, and I commented there about how Gladwell's history was totally bogus. But my comment was deleted.
Rick Barry's youngest son has a PhD in Nuclear Engineering. Rick was academically and athleticly gifted himself. No equal combo has existed in the NBA. He exists in the stratosphere, as many college professors do. He just knows how to communicate and play ball too.
Shooting Rick's "granny style" free throw shot is not easy. Me and all my friends would practice it growing up during the time when Rick was with the Warriors. I remember Warrior center George Johnson learned the technique from Rick and became a pretty good free throw shooter.
Yes.I think George Johnson went from a 50%free throw shooter to 75%....he then went back to the traditional style shooting and his average dropped again.
That’s right. You know you need adult size hands to do it properly. We had a coach in seventh grade who tried to make us do it and it didn’t work out so well. Our hands were too small.
Except, as accurate history, and in every other way, it's total crap. There's a TH-cam version of it and my comment pointing out how wrong it was was disappeared. Suffice it to say Wilt shot his free throws underhanded for years and, contra Gladwell, was -- outside the 100 point game -- progressively more and more terrible at it. In "The Big Man Can't Shoot" Barry comments on how bad Wilt's form was.... and Gladwell just ignores this as it doesn't fit with the stupid corporate motivation speech he was peddling,.
Rick had incredible Concentration and there is a rule in basketball " disconcertion" meant to prevent opponents from distracting that concentration. The flatness of that overall ft % stat has more to do with poor lever alignments splitting the rim and lack of concentration . Than something rick barry did. Most low ft % shooters have their elbows out of alignment because they dont bring their left hand to the pedestal right hand so their fight elbow points to the sideline not to the rim thus shooting the ball elliptically rather than parabolicly.
@@johnbailey2024 Except terence's usage is totally bogus. All shots follow parabolic paths. None are elliptical. What the heck does he imagine he is saying?
@@TheIcemanthomas so much amazing talent and one of the best eras for centers too People just sleep on it because anything before 2000 is a “plumbers era”
I host a podcast with Rick Barry called Warriors 24 (please subscribe) and Rick's continually incensed that Bill has all these opinions on him and even wrote blatant lies about him in his book (Rick's teammates didn't turn on him in the 1976 Western Conference Finals for starters) yet won't ever interview him. Bill's never tried contacting Rick to confirm any of the rumors or to at least establish a relationship so he could judge Rick for himself instead of relying on other people's opinions for his assessments. I'm going to try and contact Malcolm to see if he's interested in coming on Rick's podcast.
Bill Simmons is trash journalist. Or better said, a "Fantasy Sports Journalist." Fan-turned-writer and misses the mark on everything outside of Boston. Shameful.
Shaq made fun of Rick in his hall of fame speech. It showed where Shaq was limited: He never did everything in his power to improve his craft..if he would have been the fitest, most skilled player on the floor, the GOAT arguement would have been different.
Simple, back of the envelope math, he gets an extra 4,000 points if he shoots about 88% from the line (which would be probably crazy), adding about 15%to his career totals. But, in reality, if he could actually shoot in the high 80s, he'd probably be more inclined to get fouled more late in games, so maybe his FT attempts go up? Conversely, maybe they go down because "hack a shack" doesn't become a thing, so who knows. In 2000-2001, he averaged 28.7 PPG, and was 6.7FT for 13.1FTA, if he shot 90% he'd average 11.7/13.1 from the line for a 33.7 PPG which would have been mind boggling.
I like Shaq better post playing career. He's more aware, humble and has even acknowledged his mistakes during his career. He still overrates himself, which, I suppose, is understandable. Yes, he should have been in better shape during his career, which would have made a huge difference. That said, I can't think of a player who took more of a beating. He was fouled regularly and hard at times. I am in complete agreement with Simmons. He's top 12, but could have been top 5.
People forget how great an athlete he was when young and he could run the floor like the freak he could have been the next wilt if he had kobes mindset he still is in top 8
Underhanded free throws require development of a totally separate skillet that has no utility outside of free throws. Many players have shown ability to shoot free throws with similar efficiency to Barry, but using a shooting motion that can be developed in symbiosis with their in-game shooting form.
@@benmann2504 it is very difficult because today’s bigs have smaller hands. Kareem at his peak was ridiculously large. He’s shrunk a bit in age but people don’t realize how huge that dude was.
@@travismilton6422 I use it at 5 ft 7 Let me tell u, no one is ever prepared for my short ass to shot a hook shot. Works every time. I’ve got decent at making them too. Lol
Rick was a point forward before all of them . But was he better than Baylor - I think not. Had he not held out , not gone to the aba, not gotten hurt, not been disqualified , he might've been the greatest scorer after Wilt for that era.
@@terencewinters2154 That can't be right. Baylor was gone by the time Barry returned to the NBA, so their overlap can only have been the two years before Barry jumped. And I would think Baylor's knees were shot by then. Really, different "eras". Baylor was around 38ppg in '62, but doesn't show up on the leaderboard at Basketball Reference because, I assume, he only played around 47 games. (But he's on the rebounding leaderboard for that year.) So I guess the army bit hurt his legacy a little, but not much. It's his knees that kept him from really sharing the Wilt-West championship. (I think he got a ring.)
I thought it was weird how he cited entrepreneurs trying things people say they shouldn’t as evidence that they’re not agreeable. That’s more to do with their resilience and bravery. The low agreeableness would come more into play when they stab someone in the back and fuck a bunch of people over to get ahead
@@charlescoryell4239 exactly. The definition of what agreeable/disagreeable is. Don’t interpret it as a negative label, it’s essentially saying they are willing to push past the norm and see if something works. Consider disagreeable as a trait to innovation.
Gladwell makes exactly the opposite assertion, e.g. about Magic Johnson. If you want to claim otherwise mere assertion just won't do. "Agreeableness" as a name for a personality trait is not his invention.
Bill gets weird when talking Shaq or Kobe. “Shaq would have been the most unstoppable player of his entire generation... he would have one multiple titles in a row.” Well the second did happen and he has an amazing case of the title of the first.
Wilt is by far the most interesting NBA player from a psychological perspective. He would go days without eating and then just jump in his car and drive across the country. Score 60 in a game, lose, not care then hit on every woman he came into contact with during all that and racked up a few thousand notches on his belt. Kobe and Kawhi are probably second and third
Bill gates is agreeable, Jordan was highly disagreeable (as was Kobe). I'm not certain that this theory holds water....maybe on average it works but that would require further investigation
I wanna see the numbers on this...how great would he be if he shot 80% and how many more free throw attempts would he add (average like 11 in his prime...would that go up to 20 or 25...like Simmons add, “if he stayed in shape...”). I think he’d be number 1 honestly, he was pure dominance still.
Here is the break down. Played just over 1400 total games. Took just under 12000 free throws. Made right around 6000 of those. Averaged 23.7 ppg. If he had shot 80% from the charity stripe he would have scored about 3500 more points. 3500÷1400=2.5+23.7= 26.2 ppg. I would argue that if he could shoot free throws he would have had fewer attempts. No one is playing " hack a Shaq" if he's knocking down 80%.
@@mjwbulich wish we had stats on how often he was fouled off-ball. that wouldn’t take everything into account but it would make the comparison more accurate.
@@mjwbulich idk...like...his prime...in the playoffs, almost every possession he got the ball where he wanted it and it was a dunk or the whistle it seemed. I just think his prime would’ve been outta this world...he faded so much all those late injury years that the ppg don’t really speak to the level he was at. I wasn’t a fan, I definitely was pulling for AI and Sacramento ect...but...the eye test was, he was unstoppable.
If teams are afraid to foul him because he is 80% at the line, then how do you stop him in the post? If he could make his FTs, then teams foul him less, then he crushes them with his dominance in the post! He would have had a much better career, because it would allow him to play his game. It's like spacing the court with 3pt shooters. It opens up the game.
@@harrisonfriedman5597 Fouling off-ball is a tech and the fouled team gets the ball back. This was a rule put in to stop teams from doing that to Wilt back in the era when teams would use up 1-shot fouls to gain possession just before the 2-minute mark in quarters.
So many holes in these arguments. Barry had this "disagreeableness" or whatever, when all basketball superstars have agreeableness. Except - Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, James Harden, etc. So - Barry doesn't really stand out as much as claimed. The skyhook was also another lethal shot universally ignored - so not just Barry's underhand free throw. By Simmons's argument, Shaq was a superstar without being super conscientious - probably multiple other examples (Charles Barkley anyone?) These claims just end up dying the death of multiple qualifications.
I think players use the set shot over the underhand because it allows them to get reps of their shooting motion in game. You could only really shoot underhand in game if you're cherry picking, although I'd love to see steph pull up from 3 and hit the granny shot.
@@monkeyinalamborghini Yeah, but most of the times the guys who desperately need the FT help are guys LIKE Shaq, guys who don't shoot overhand very often at all. I looked at the 20 worst FT shooters in NBA history and only Wilt Chamberlain had a jumper in his repertoire. Most of the other guys don't even HAVE a repertoire. It's all a bunch of rim-runner defensive specialist types. Now I think Barry argues that his FT method would benefit everyone - I disagree with him on that, but guys who don't have scoring skills should really adopt it. Ben Wallace was 41% for his career - he really should have tried it
Correction phil smith all star but a rookie in championship year , gus William's didnt appear till the year after the championship and was an all star later with seattle winning a championship.
Imagine if hockey players saw Stan Makita and Bobby Hull using sticks with curved blades and thought "Nah, we'll stick with flat blades and keep shooting backhanded."
at first i thought his part on agreeableness was certainly wrong. Look at MJ, he didnt care if his teammates liked him. But then I realized that was exactly what drove MJ, but he didnt need anybody to like him, he needed everybody to think he was the best.
RICK WAS an extrovert big use of " I " OPENING SENTENCES WHEN HE GOT THE " WE " AND SHARED IT HE GOT THE CHAMPIONSHIP. RICK WAS DISAGREEABLE MORE WITH HIS OPPONENTS BUT LOW AGREEABLENESS WITH TEAMMATES WHO DIDNT SPACE PROPERLY HUSTLE OR FILL THEIR ROLES .
Shaq, the great anomaly. Succeeded because he shoved his butt into people and dunked the ball, in a time when the rules were no longer enforced. Wilt and Kareem were called for fouls when they did anything like that.
No one adopts his shot, because it interrupts your jump shot. Typically great shooters, especially long range, are great free throw shooters. Why? Because to master long range shooting, you need to understand and be comfortable with the fundamentals of what is generally considered good shooting form. This means lining up for the shot and squaring up to a basket, having the feel for the basketballs to flick it with solid back spin to to consistently go in. From personal experience, one of the best ways to ingrain the fundamentals of shooting is to drill them through free throws. A free throw should be planted, so when you practice good form you are able to focus on using your legs for power while also maintaining good form with your upper body. It's easier to lose this form when you jump, so by minimizing movements by practicing your shot through free throws, you can dial in on improving the basics of your shot before you take what you know into the jump shot. Rick Barry's form is awful form for anyone that would like to be a functional shooter outside of the free throw. Such a easy shot to defend. You only have so much time and energy to develop your shooting, why would you waste it on a form that is not useable outside of free-throw shooting when you can kill 2 birds with one stone by just being consistent on your form regardless of free throw or not. This guy is kind of acting like there is this mystery to good free-throw shooting and I find that laughable. As someone who is not a pro NBA player, I go 20+ free-throws in row almost on a regular basis when I consistently practice shooting. Because, all it really comes down to is figuring out what works, then doing the same exact thing over and over again. No mystery there. In fact, even if you shot like Rick Barry, you'd still have to drill that over and over to acquire the muscle memory so I don't really see any advantage to doing this. If anything it's far less efficient in terms of training, far less practical in game, and you look like an idiot while doing it.
It's not a good idea for someone who already shoots well. But take guys like Shaq, Ben Wallace, DeAndre Jordan, poor FT shooters whose games don't incorporate jump-shooting, why not?
Rick Barry never looked like an idiot hitting over 90% of his free throws, and you sound like an idiot asserting that he did. There may in fact be an advantage to beginning the parabolic trajectory lower than your waist. Does it, e.g., result in the drop over the front rim being at a steeper angle? I am not asserting this, but something like that could be true.
Sadly Shaq is rumored to have said he'd rather have shot 0% from the free throw line, than use Barry's incredible underhanded method. I frankly do not understand it, as no one os going to call Shaq a sissy to his face. Plus the "hack a Shaq" defense never would have took hold to diminish his capabilities.
Gladwell - smart guy - is so off and trying to fit a theory to Rick Barry. Michael Jordan was very disagreeable and had a bigger chip on his shoulder than Jordan.
The reason nobody shoots that way is because it's basically a trick shot. That reverse flick of the wrist is not something everyone can do. Have you ever tried this crap? It would take years for a player to master this technique.
The argument that Shaq could have called up Rick and then somehow magically shot 90% by switching to granny is a good example of why can’t trust Malcolm Gladwell’s conclusions. He seems to like a good story better than an accurate understanding.
Gladwell is simply a liar when convenient for him. Wilt shot free throws underhanded for years (copying Guy Rogers), and was more and more terrible at it before switching back to overhand but shooting from the circle and other craziness. He was better at Kansas, when he shot overhand and carefully, then at ANY point in the NBA.
Sorry, Gladwell's pop psychology is just utter bullshit. I used to be into his stuff, see Blink, but here is an example that breaks his theory, Michael Jordan.
Plus he;s a liar and a fraud. Wilt was a terrible underhanded free thrower who nonetheless kept shooting that way for years. (At LEAST '63, '64 and '65, but maybe NOT in ;62, when he shot 28-32 in the 100 point game.)
Shaq could have replaced his hands with robotic arms and he would still shot 45% guys. He’s a bad free throw shooter because he’s a bad shooter, he never had a reason to practice shooting from any distance. Him practicing free throws would be a waste of his time.
Rick gave you buckets!!!! In your face…. At a time when the league had Tiny, McAdoo, Celtics (Havlecik, Jo Jo, Silas, ) Bucks (Big O, Kareem, Dandridge) Bullets (Big E, Unseld) Barry was the best in 1975 , straight murder
They won the championship… and he killed everybody. The next year same thing but somebody pissed him off and he did not shoot the ball for the final quarter and a half and they lost.
@@jsyd634 He didn't "kill everybody". The Warriors had only the 4th best record in the NBA. In '76 they had a better record, but lost in the playoffs. Perhaps the Ricky Sobers incident was important, though Barry denies this.
Are you serious The year they won the championship who else was putting up the points every night vs the Bullets. Keith Wilkes? Clifford Ray? Who. Nobody could guard him and it wasn’t like he was avg 12pts or something. 29.5!!! What do you have against this dude? Leading scorer every night. As for the incident …. Just watch the 2nd half. He did it … for whatever reason.
@@jsyd634 What part of "The Warriors had only the 4th best record in the NBA" are you deeming "not serious"? There's no question that Barry carried the Warriors on his back to the NBA championship, but carrying the Warriors vs the Bullets is no basis for claiming Barry "killed everybody". The Bullets weren't "everybody". And three of the actual "everybody" were so comprehensively not "killed" that they had better records than the Warriors. That said, I probably rate Barry higher on the best-of-all-time list than most do.
Maybe Kareem, but Jordan and Kobe definitely cared about how people saw them. It's what drove them. They needed to talk trash. They needed to average 35. They needed to be not only the best, but seen as the best. Barry and Kareem didn't. Kareem was so good and so unaproachable that it very nearly destroyed the league. Barry never gave a s**t about people thought about him, so they don't. There is no star in the league like that, and the way that the media affects the league there will probably never be another player like that.
@@phillipbell4394 - I think people are misunderstanding the psychological term agreeableness with the general term agreeableness...Jordan was near obsessed with his image and how people saw him.
One correction: Elon Musk didn’t create Tesla, he came from a rich family, bought it, and did his best to take all the credit. Not the entrepreneur people make him out to be.
Yeah or if, instead of finding basketball or computer programming, Ricky Barry found meth, he’d be kicked out of the house and also eventually living in San Jose. I don’t like Gladwell’s enormous assumptions.
Um, He's pretty much describing Kobe Bryant's mentality as a basketball player. Kobe (early Kobe. Maybe not as much from 2008 to the end of his career) barely cared about his teammates let alone what they thought of him and he was obsessively (and selfishly) driven for greatness.
I missed the Berry era, even though Rick gets really butt hurt when you mention his lack of shooting in Game 7 vs Phoenix where he sure looked like he wanted to take his ball home… I think if Rick was on your team, you liked him, but he definitely can be difficult… also Shaq could have been the most dominating force ever if he had just used the underhand method (Shaq you are like 350-400 lbs and you love roasting comedy, you can just point to all your rings)
Ft = relaxation, concentration, confidence, routine, form . Rick has 6 ft shooters with better percentages in front of him though first in the ABA. None use that form underhanded . And of the top 50 in both leagues he is an Outlier in form . MG has an outlier problem his hero worship bias . Because mechanically that form doesnt make sense.
@@RK-um9tu I like mg generally but in this case hes made a mistake Barry's concentration and relaxation have more to do with his success and his methodology is fine for his oversized hands and longish fingers but the same couldve been accomplished by him shooting like his set or jumpshot maybe even a higher percentage . Because I think in the two handed form he over uses the left arm levers. I've noted also his sons who were nba players didnt use underhand and were highly effective ft shooters not quite as good as dad but 80s % wise.
Shorter players have to work on their shot, so they are good FT shooters. Big guys, especially Shaq and Dwight and others, don't work on their shot. That's not their game. But their FTs suck, and that does affect their game, which is taking it to the hoop. Shaq should have pushed himself and become a good FT shooter, regardless of which method he used. But for a Dominant big that isn't going to be in the gym, working on his shot for his game, then the Underhanded FT is easier. Underhand throw imparts backspin, which lets the ball hit the backboard and roll right in. It is easier to do than a regular jumpshot. Yeah, Steve Nash and others who make a living on their jump shot, they are good FT shooters. But for bigs who don't have a midrange shot, but are best taking it to the hoop, they still need to be able to make FTs. If they did, we wouldn't be having this conversation. And furthermore, the stats don't matter because it was about what Shaq said. If he could be guaranteed to become a good FT shooter, he wouldn't do it if it made him look lame. He chose to leave something on the table.
@@shorewall that doesn't make Shaq smart in a team sense because he missed minutes being benched and from a personal standpoint he was more concerned with personal image than adding to his scoring average by missing half of his attempts had he made more there'd have been fewer opponent transition points just by the mere fact they'd have to take it out of bounds. Moses and Hakeem were smarter though . Because they made theirs.
@@terencewinters2154 Barry's sons were raised by their estranged mother, and learned basketball without any input from him. Plus they got hops from their mother's side, evidently, as Rick didn't have any. (Amazingly, Brent won the slam dunk contest!)
@@shorewall You keep repeating this nonsense about free throws hitting the backboard. Good free throw shooters don't hit the backboard. The reason the best free throw shooters are generally short is that the shooting talent selection filter operates more strongly against short players. A big guy can have a career even if he's not a talented shooter. Short guys can't. But there are a lot more of them around.
There's not actually much discussion of Barry's career here, just Gladwell pushing his totally bogus story about Wilt abandoning the underhanded free throw despite great success with it because he didn't like the way he thought it made him look. You'd think Simmons would immediately recognize what a cock and bull story that is, but he doesn't seem to. Subject for consideration: Barry didn't jump. Like, hardly at all. But one of his sons won the slam dunk title. Why was Rick so much better a player than Brent?
This Rick Barry free throw thing has to end. There are many reasons why underhanded technique didn’t catch on and none of them are because the way it looks. The main issue is that it is a non-transferable skill, meaning any practice with underhanded free throw form isn’t training normal shooting form, which is a main benefit from free throw practice. There are many others I could list but this idea players aren’t doing it because it looks lame is just illogical.
I agree that the reason for not shooting ft underhanded has little or nothing to do with how it looks. Free throw shooting transfers to jump shots hardly at all. So, no, that's not it. But if you shoot overhand, why WOULD you even try underhand free throws? Though Hal Greer used jump shots to shoot free throws for exactly the "transferability" reason. So there's that.
@@gandydancer9710 Free throw shooting is quite literally one of the best ways to improve your jumpshot form, that is objectively about as wrong as anything anyone has ever said. I still use an old educational video with my students from Bird where he explains the importance of free throw practice and how it improves overall shooting fundamentals. And people would try underhanded because it does have advantages, it is a simpler motion with less movement and thus easier to learn for new players/poor shooters. But this improvement is only very slight and for elite overhanded shooters the advantage is basically null. Rick Barry was going to shoot around 90% from the line because he was a great shooter, not because of the shooting form he was using.
@@garrettclayton4741 Underhand is not a simpler motion with less movement. IMHO it is a longer movement of fully extended arms that is harder to remain in control of and reproduce. But Rick Barry was anyway going to be a great free throw shooter because he had the arm-hand-eye coordination and the aptitude to practice it. But he was never going to be a 40% 3-point shooter unless he developed entirely different shooting mechanics for that purpose. With very different "jump shooting fundamentals" than his actual shot.
@@gandydancer9710 Wilt averaged 30 PTS for his career because he missed so many FT but would have been +33 PTS if he stuck with the underhanded FT. Those are free points that he missed out on was my point. You're right that he could have averaged more if he shot more but the video was about players not shooting underhanded FT.
@@2badger2 Gladwell is full of sh!t. Wilt did NOT shoot free throws effectively underhanded, and probably was shooting them overhanded in his 28 of 32 game. It was only after his free throw percentage dropped off a cliff that he tried copying Guy Rogers' underhanded style, and that had to be AFTER 1962 since 1962 was one of his better (maybe his best) free throw shooting year (maybe 62%, iirc). Gladwell didn't even listen to his own podcast, where Barry talks about how bad Wilt's form was underhanded.
Elon Musk was not the founder of Tesla, Malcolm, and it's a shame that you don't seem to know that because you're such a great writer.* The ACTUAL founders met Elon 15 years ago, or so & they became friend, put him on the board of Tesla, and then he essentially began a hostile takeover & pushed most, if not all of them out of the company. *(I know he's not gonna read the comment.)
MJ: "Malcolm said basketball superstars are agreeable and want to get along with people. That means he implied that I wanted to get along with Jerry Krause. I took offense to that!"
Well Shaq is behind Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Magic, Bird, MJ, Duncan, and Lebron for sure. So he is somewhere between 9 and 15 depending on how you call it. He is roughly on par with Kobe, Hakeem, KD, Curry, and maybe one or two others I am forgetting. Calling him top 12 is pretty reasonable.
@@harmonicarchipelgo9351 I put him at 5, behind Kareem, Lebron, Jordan, and Russell. Dude was dominant. Love Bird and Magic, but they had short careers.
@@samuelbach1631 wilt was even more dominant, and had better skills to boot. shaq only had bully-ball, wilt had finesse with is fadeaway bank shot and his distance finger roll.
Jordan was also quite disagreeable during his early to mid Bulls career. Kobe, too, copying Jordan. It took Phil Jackson's mind games to trick them into buying in.
The hell is Richard Simmons doing on here talking bout basketball instead of exercising? I know who Malcolm Gladwell is before anyone assumes I'm a dumbass
Jamaal Wilkes wrote in his autobiography that once he realized that Rick Barry was harder on himself than anyone else, he understood him better. He also wrote that while some stars would shout at the other players, seeing Rick try desperately NOT to snap on someone was much scarier lol He was equally complimentary of Barry as he was of Magic.
That’s really cool to hear. Jamal was really young when he was on the Warriors too . Rick Berry had a complicated personality.
Underhand Freethrow and Skyhook , 2 of the most deadly weapons in NBA history sadly no one uses
Can someone explain to me why skyhook is the best shot? No one has a good stats based answer
@@therealbs2000 basically its unguardable if a really tall player uses it
@@miorionomichi thats not a stats argument.
@@therealbs2000 i dont have stats dude but since you brought that up whos the player with the most point in NBA History and what shot he uses nuff said
@@miorionomichi oh hi there, nice to see the "karl malone is the second leading scorer ever the flat footed fadeaway long 2 is an underrated and deadly weapon" argument again
Shaq is probably the most self conscious player of all time, his ego is threatened and bruised so easily. Just look at his comments regarding Dwight winning a ring this year or every argument with Barkley where he just says “how many rings chuck?” When he feels like he is losing the argument
It’s Lebron
I’ve thought this as well. As a kid I used to blame Kobe for their break up but as an adult I see shaq wasn’t innocent
@@nocuh Shaq is worse than bron. Atleast bron keeps his narcissistic tendencies behind doors most of the time and uses the people around him to speak his mind. Shaq just lashes out.
@@TheIcemanthomas you pretty much made my point.
Shaq is self-conscious because of his size so he cultivated an even bigger personality; Man is a roastmaster from the east coast who is always going to bust balls and joke around. His natural move is to dominate, on or off court and just wings it in the moment, as evidenced by his performance on inside the nba. He only started doing show prep and really paying attention to the others’ analysis after getting roasted on air. Still remains most entertaining off the cuff.
Lebron has the most calculating, cunning basketball mind in nba history and how he controls his public image is testament. The Decision is his only real misread of the room, where the fallout and unrelenting scrutiny affected his 2010-11 season and unceremonious finals performance. He was self-conscious before all that but those events forced him to reflect and change to take the next step and become a ruthless champion. Credit where due.
This is a great observation about Shaq and to the commenters dragging Lebron into this...STAHHHHP!
I had the pleasure of seeing Barry play quite a bit and Rick played the right way. Yes, he didn't care what anybody else thought but his overall game and free throw shooting was masterful. People always bring up Barry's disagreeable personality but Barry did play outstanding team basketball and was a top HOF performer at the very least.
I saw a lot of home games in Oakland when I was a kid. You’re right it was an absolute pleasure. Rick Barry was one of the greatest players I ever saw.
@@billhorstkamp98 Agreed.
Malcolm Gladwell teaches intro to psychology while talking about basketball and smart people
Sounds like he's watched Jordan Peterson. He interviewed JP before
If this was a class in college, I'd take it 100 times
@@ta6577 If Malcolm Gladwell taught a class at my college I'd try to beak into that zoom forsure
@@blackphillip564 those are just basic psych things not JP things
Gladwell is a total fraud, who has no business carrying Peterson's jock, intelligence-wise. When I listened to his podcast on the failure to adopt the underhand free throw I knew something was wrong -- I had SEEN Wilt shooting underhanded free throws both before and after his trade to the 76ers in 1964 , and he was terrible at it. Yet Gladwell's thesis was that Wilt had been a great underhand free throw shooter in his 100 point game in 1962 (true: 28 of 32) and generally (false: he was around 60% in that season, and then got much worse WHILE STILL SHOOTING UNDERHANDED in subsequent seasons), but had dropped it because he didn't like looking like a granny at the line. Which is very convenient for Gladwell's primary money making enterprise, which is giving corporate speeches. You got a bit of the flavor of that here, when he was talking about entrepreneurs needing to not care about what anyone else thinks. Only problem: It's total BS. Yes, he interviewed Barry.... who talked about how bad Wilt's underhand form was, which Gladwell totally ignored.
There's a TH-cam "video" of that podcast, and I commented there about how Gladwell's history was totally bogus. But my comment was deleted.
Rick Barry's youngest son has a PhD in Nuclear Engineering. Rick was academically and athleticly gifted himself. No equal combo has existed in the NBA. He exists in the stratosphere, as many college professors do. He just knows how to communicate and play ball too.
His son doesn't have a phD in anything
@@mitchelll3879 first I don't know he finished his study but he was studied nuclear engineering....
Grant Williams' mother is a highly intelligent woman.
@@mitchelll3879 that’s right😂👍🏻
Shooting Rick's "granny style" free throw shot is not easy. Me and all my friends would practice it growing up during the time when Rick was with the Warriors. I remember Warrior center George Johnson learned the technique from Rick and became a pretty good free throw shooter.
Yes.I think George Johnson went from a 50%free throw shooter to 75%....he then went back to the traditional style shooting and his average dropped again.
That’s right. You know you need adult size hands to do it properly. We had a coach in seventh grade who tried to make us do it and it didn’t work out so well. Our hands were too small.
@@missayawk I loved those warrior teams
Funny thing on the rare instances where players do the underhand shot, the crowds go crazy.
I love Malcolm Gladwell, the happiest chillest Lesbian I know
He identifies as a Muppet. Please be respectful.
Y'all forreal 😂
LOL
Gladwell is a liar and a fraud.
Not the tandem I wanted, but the one I needed. Thank you
Rick Barry is very underrated, brilliant and is a bit abrasive apparently.
Exact same with Kareem and the skyhook.
Ever since I saw this man on the JRE I swear he just pops up on any and every podcast 🤣
Gladwell is a tireless liar.
That Revisionist History pod Bill references ("The Big Man Can't Shoot" if you are looking for it) is great, one of my favorite ones he did.
Thanks! I am behind on those, glad to be steered towards this one!
Except, as accurate history, and in every other way, it's total crap.
There's a TH-cam version of it and my comment pointing out how wrong it was was disappeared. Suffice it to say Wilt shot his free throws underhanded for years and, contra Gladwell, was -- outside the 100 point game -- progressively more and more terrible at it. In "The Big Man Can't Shoot" Barry comments on how bad Wilt's form was.... and Gladwell just ignores this as it doesn't fit with the stupid corporate motivation speech he was peddling,.
Rick had incredible Concentration and there is a rule in basketball " disconcertion" meant to prevent opponents from distracting that concentration. The flatness of that overall ft % stat has more to do with poor lever alignments splitting the rim and lack of concentration . Than something rick barry did. Most low ft % shooters have their elbows out of alignment because they dont bring their left hand to the pedestal right hand so their fight elbow points to the sideline not to the rim thus shooting the ball elliptically rather than parabolicly.
Today's a good day, I learned elliptical and parabolically
@@johnbailey2024 Except terence's usage is totally bogus. All shots follow parabolic paths. None are elliptical. What the heck does he imagine he is saying?
One of the most underrated Superstar of All Time
The entire 70s were underrated.
@@TheIcemanthomas so much amazing talent and one of the best eras for centers too
People just sleep on it because anything before 2000 is a “plumbers era”
I host a podcast with Rick Barry called Warriors 24 (please subscribe) and Rick's continually incensed that Bill has all these opinions on him and even wrote blatant lies about him in his book (Rick's teammates didn't turn on him in the 1976 Western Conference Finals for starters) yet won't ever interview him. Bill's never tried contacting Rick to confirm any of the rumors or to at least establish a relationship so he could judge Rick for himself instead of relying on other people's opinions for his assessments. I'm going to try and contact Malcolm to see if he's interested in coming on Rick's podcast.
This is Bill Simmons we're talking about. He's not one to change his mind once he's made it up
Bill Simmons is trash journalist. Or better said, a "Fantasy Sports Journalist." Fan-turned-writer and misses the mark on everything outside of Boston. Shameful.
He’s always lying about Barry
Does anyone remember the famous Spalding Ball comic ad featuring Dr J and Rick Barry?
Yup! Dr. J swooping to the rim and Rick Berry swishing a 30 footer!
"He play in the lights!"
Shaq made fun of Rick in his hall of fame speech. It showed where Shaq was limited: He never did everything in his power to improve his craft..if he would have been the fitest, most skilled player on the floor, the GOAT arguement would have been different.
Simple, back of the envelope math, he gets an extra 4,000 points if he shoots about 88% from the line (which would be probably crazy), adding about 15%to his career totals. But, in reality, if he could actually shoot in the high 80s, he'd probably be more inclined to get fouled more late in games, so maybe his FT attempts go up? Conversely, maybe they go down because "hack a shack" doesn't become a thing, so who knows.
In 2000-2001, he averaged 28.7 PPG, and was 6.7FT for 13.1FTA, if he shot 90% he'd average 11.7/13.1 from the line for a 33.7 PPG which would have been mind boggling.
@@andrewshandle man which centres are shooting 90% from the line? Shaq is way greater than Rick Barry anyway
@@mashwork6615 Embiid is shooting 86%. Jokic is shooting 88%...
I like Shaq better post playing career. He's more aware, humble and has even acknowledged his mistakes during his career. He still overrates himself, which, I suppose, is understandable. Yes, he should have been in better shape during his career, which would have made a huge difference. That said, I can't think of a player who took more of a beating. He was fouled regularly and hard at times. I am in complete agreement with Simmons. He's top 12, but could have been top 5.
People forget how great an athlete he was when young and he could run the floor like the freak he could have been the next wilt if he had kobes mindset he still is in top 8
The underhand free-throw and the skyhook are proven but rejected. It'd be like if the Fosbury was rejected.
I'd argue that the skyhook is very difficult to execute and far less valuable to players under 7 feet.
Underhanded free throws require development of a totally separate skillet that has no utility outside of free throws. Many players have shown ability to shoot free throws with similar efficiency to Barry, but using a shooting motion that can be developed in symbiosis with their in-game shooting form.
@@benmann2504 it is very difficult because today’s bigs have smaller hands. Kareem at his peak was ridiculously large. He’s shrunk a bit in age but people don’t realize how huge that dude was.
@@TheIcemanthomas y’all ever played against someone old school at the park? That hook shot is undefeated. Some people can bank 3 with a hook shot .
@@travismilton6422 I use it at 5 ft 7 Let me tell u, no one is ever prepared for my short ass to shot a hook shot. Works every time. I’ve got decent at making them too. Lol
Rick was a point forward before all of them . But was he better than Baylor - I think not. Had he not held out , not gone to the aba, not gotten hurt, not been disqualified , he might've been the greatest scorer after Wilt for that era.
Barry was ten years later than Baylor.
@@gandydancer9710 yes but they overlapped by about 5 years. Baylor doing military time hurt him.
@@terencewinters2154 That can't be right. Baylor was gone by the time Barry returned to the NBA, so their overlap can only have been the two years before Barry jumped. And I would think Baylor's knees were shot by then. Really, different "eras".
Baylor was around 38ppg in '62, but doesn't show up on the leaderboard at Basketball Reference because, I assume, he only played around 47 games. (But he's on the rebounding leaderboard for that year.) So I guess the army bit hurt his legacy a little, but not much. It's his knees that kept him from really sharing the Wilt-West championship. (I think he got a ring.)
Holy crap, that was an impressive string of half-baked logically flawed theories.
welcome to the Gladwell-verse, enjoy your stay!
Malcolm Gladwell may be an idiot, but he’s MY idiot
I thought it was weird how he cited entrepreneurs trying things people say they shouldn’t as evidence that they’re not agreeable. That’s more to do with their resilience and bravery. The low agreeableness would come more into play when they stab someone in the back and fuck a bunch of people over to get ahead
The best way to give psychological insight about a person is to not know anything about them at all 😂
@@charlescoryell4239 exactly. The definition of what agreeable/disagreeable is.
Don’t interpret it as a negative label, it’s essentially saying they are willing to push past the norm and see if something works. Consider disagreeable as a trait to innovation.
Absolutely love Rick..one of the best players I ever saw
The "agreeableness" as he calls it, is the thing that puts superstars over stars. If you're not ok with being alone you can't be at the top
Gladwell makes exactly the opposite assertion, e.g. about Magic Johnson. If you want to claim otherwise mere assertion just won't do.
"Agreeableness" as a name for a personality trait is not his invention.
Bill gets weird when talking Shaq or Kobe. “Shaq would have been the most unstoppable player of his entire generation... he would have one multiple titles in a row.” Well the second did happen and he has an amazing case of the title of the first.
Shaq was stoppable, just put him on the free throw line.
Hack a Shaq anyone and especially if none of his shots are going in
Imagine Malcolm Gladwell as an NBA gm this guy would do full psychological reports on every player he signs or drafts
And the team would win 23 games a year.
Wilt is by far the most interesting NBA player from a psychological perspective. He would go days without eating and then just jump in his car and drive across the country. Score 60 in a game, lose, not care then hit on every woman he came into contact with during all that and racked up a few thousand notches on his belt. Kobe and Kawhi are probably second and third
6:00 when they start talking about Rick Barry’s underhand shot
Thank you, that first minute was unbearable
Thank you, appreciate it.
Giannis should try the underhanded free throw imo
MJ and Kobe were pretty damn disagreeable imo
but the triangle offense
It sounds crazy...but Rick Barry is a sight more disagreeable than either MJ or Kobe.
But as a person both of them are still nice compared to Barry
At least Jordan and Kobe would agree with a system and would differ to people...Rick Berry has none of that.
@@JRON85 Rick ran the GS system and offense. A point forward who got everyone involved.
Amazing video.
Bill gates is agreeable, Jordan was highly disagreeable (as was Kobe). I'm not certain that this theory holds water....maybe on average it works but that would require further investigation
Bunny was 4 ' 11" and did demonstrations with a 7footer Murray Tannenbaum.
Super fascinating bit!
I listened to a podcast just yesterday that used OCEAN to predict a murder's personality via crime scene evidence. Apparently it's quite applicable.
I wanna see the numbers on this...how great would he be if he shot 80% and how many more free throw attempts would he add (average like 11 in his prime...would that go up to 20 or 25...like Simmons add, “if he stayed in shape...”).
I think he’d be number 1 honestly, he was pure dominance still.
Here is the break down. Played just over 1400 total games. Took just under 12000 free throws. Made right around 6000 of those. Averaged 23.7 ppg. If he had shot 80% from the charity stripe he would have scored about 3500 more points. 3500÷1400=2.5+23.7= 26.2 ppg.
I would argue that if he could shoot free throws he would have had fewer attempts. No one is playing " hack a Shaq" if he's knocking down 80%.
@@mjwbulich wish we had stats on how often he was fouled off-ball. that wouldn’t take everything into account but it would make the comparison more accurate.
@@mjwbulich idk...like...his prime...in the playoffs, almost every possession he got the ball where he wanted it and it was a dunk or the whistle it seemed.
I just think his prime would’ve been outta this world...he faded so much all those late injury years that the ppg don’t really speak to the level he was at.
I wasn’t a fan, I definitely was pulling for AI and Sacramento ect...but...the eye test was, he was unstoppable.
If teams are afraid to foul him because he is 80% at the line, then how do you stop him in the post? If he could make his FTs, then teams foul him less, then he crushes them with his dominance in the post! He would have had a much better career, because it would allow him to play his game. It's like spacing the court with 3pt shooters. It opens up the game.
@@harrisonfriedman5597 Fouling off-ball is a tech and the fouled team gets the ball back. This was a rule put in to stop teams from doing that to Wilt back in the era when teams would use up 1-shot fouls to gain possession just before the 2-minute mark in quarters.
So many holes in these arguments. Barry had this "disagreeableness" or whatever, when all basketball superstars have agreeableness. Except - Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, James Harden, etc. So - Barry doesn't really stand out as much as claimed. The skyhook was also another lethal shot universally ignored - so not just Barry's underhand free throw. By Simmons's argument, Shaq was a superstar without being super conscientious - probably multiple other examples (Charles Barkley anyone?) These claims just end up dying the death of multiple qualifications.
Lots of players shot hooks, just not as well
I think players use the set shot over the underhand because it allows them to get reps of their shooting motion in game. You could only really shoot underhand in game if you're cherry picking, although I'd love to see steph pull up from 3 and hit the granny shot.
That's not true of Shaq. Most of Shaq's non-dunk FGAs were jump hooks or drop-step short-range turnarounds
@@srj34 I know, I just made a generalization for the sake of brevity.
@@monkeyinalamborghini Yeah, but most of the times the guys who desperately need the FT help are guys LIKE Shaq, guys who don't shoot overhand very often at all. I looked at the 20 worst FT shooters in NBA history and only Wilt Chamberlain had a jumper in his repertoire. Most of the other guys don't even HAVE a repertoire. It's all a bunch of rim-runner defensive specialist types.
Now I think Barry argues that his FT method would benefit everyone - I disagree with him on that, but guys who don't have scoring skills should really adopt it. Ben Wallace was 41% for his career - he really should have tried it
That's why Hal Greer took his free throws as jump shots.
Malcolm Gladwell, hard to watch in 2023.
A liar and a fraud, hard to watch at any time after you notice it.
Rick Barry is like Dick Fosbury if everyone still high jumped on their stomach
Shaq shoots 90% hes the 🐐 cmon.
Gladwell just told Bill what his own Book was about
The underhanded free throws is like if high jumpers just said no to the Fosbury Flops.
This is the perfect analogy for it
Correction phil smith all star but a rookie in championship year , gus William's didnt appear till the year after the championship and was an all star later with seattle winning a championship.
Correction of what?
Keith Wilkes was on that team. But Barry carried them on his back.
Imagine if hockey players saw Stan Makita and Bobby Hull using sticks with curved blades and thought "Nah, we'll stick with flat blades and keep shooting backhanded."
at first i thought his part on agreeableness was certainly wrong. Look at MJ, he didnt care if his teammates liked him. But then I realized that was exactly what drove MJ, but he didnt need anybody to like him, he needed everybody to think he was the best.
Barry is an athletic intellectual.
RICK WAS an extrovert big use of " I " OPENING SENTENCES WHEN HE GOT THE " WE " AND SHARED IT HE GOT THE CHAMPIONSHIP. RICK WAS DISAGREEABLE MORE WITH HIS OPPONENTS BUT LOW AGREEABLENESS WITH TEAMMATES WHO DIDNT SPACE PROPERLY HUSTLE OR FILL THEIR ROLES .
I was listening to the audio podcast and heard this guys voice and immediately got Joe Rogan flashbacks. Had to make sure it was the same guy😂😂
It would be like if nobody adopted the Fosbury Flop.
Correct me if I’m wrong but this was done a long time ago. I’ve def heard this before. RINGER IS RECYCLING
Which current superstar would benefit from trying the Barry free throw? Giannis?
Not a superstar, but Zion. Also Joel Embiid. Honestly it would probably help Russell Westbrook, too.
@@fenzelian Embiid is already a very good free throw shooter.
Never expected Malcolm Gladwell to be on The Ringer but this was great!
Who is Malcom Gladwell? Just curious love his thoughts on this topic
He’s on Bill’s podcast every three months or so.
@@kyleneu4064 He's a writer he's got a lot of bestsellers
@@kyleneu4064 he writes some amazing books and podcasts that are very thought provoking and he challenges conventional wisdom at times
@@carminepb2242 what kind of topics? Everything?
Explorer is called the granny style people can't get over it I perfected what I call the grandpappy it actually looks cool
Malcolm talked to a stranger and now he is dr. Grande. Try being Dr. Tutko first.
Shaq, the great anomaly. Succeeded because he shoved his butt into people and dunked the ball, in a time when the rules were no longer enforced. Wilt and Kareem were called for fouls when they did anything like that.
Really interesting
No one adopts his shot, because it interrupts your jump shot. Typically great shooters, especially long range, are great free throw shooters. Why? Because to master long range shooting, you need to understand and be comfortable with the fundamentals of what is generally considered good shooting form. This means lining up for the shot and squaring up to a basket, having the feel for the basketballs to flick it with solid back spin to to consistently go in. From personal experience, one of the best ways to ingrain the fundamentals of shooting is to drill them through free throws. A free throw should be planted, so when you practice good form you are able to focus on using your legs for power while also maintaining good form with your upper body. It's easier to lose this form when you jump, so by minimizing movements by practicing your shot through free throws, you can dial in on improving the basics of your shot before you take what you know into the jump shot. Rick Barry's form is awful form for anyone that would like to be a functional shooter outside of the free throw. Such a easy shot to defend. You only have so much time and energy to develop your shooting, why would you waste it on a form that is not useable outside of free-throw shooting when you can kill 2 birds with one stone by just being consistent on your form regardless of free throw or not. This guy is kind of acting like there is this mystery to good free-throw shooting and I find that laughable. As someone who is not a pro NBA player, I go 20+ free-throws in row almost on a regular basis when I consistently practice shooting. Because, all it really comes down to is figuring out what works, then doing the same exact thing over and over again. No mystery there. In fact, even if you shot like Rick Barry, you'd still have to drill that over and over to acquire the muscle memory so I don't really see any advantage to doing this. If anything it's far less efficient in terms of training, far less practical in game, and you look like an idiot while doing it.
It's not a good idea for someone who already shoots well. But take guys like Shaq, Ben Wallace, DeAndre Jordan, poor FT shooters whose games don't incorporate jump-shooting, why not?
Rick Barry never looked like an idiot hitting over 90% of his free throws, and you sound like an idiot asserting that he did.
There may in fact be an advantage to beginning the parabolic trajectory lower than your waist. Does it, e.g., result in the drop over the front rim being at a steeper angle? I am not asserting this, but something like that could be true.
Everyone talks and asks why people don’t do the underhand free throw but honestly it’s hard and requires a lot of touch
It's not hard. You throw it up underhand, it gets backspin, hits the backboard, and rolls right in.
@@shorewall Nonsense. Any free throw that hits the backboard is already an atrocity.
Sadly Shaq is rumored to have said he'd rather have shot 0% from the free throw line, than use Barry's incredible underhanded method. I frankly do not understand it, as no one os going to call Shaq a sissy to his face. Plus the "hack a Shaq" defense never would have took hold to diminish his capabilities.
Competitive people are more disagreeable. This is well documented. It’s especially notable when you look at the personalities of Kobe and Mike.
What about Kobe or MJ?
Gladwell - smart guy - is so off and trying to fit a theory to Rick Barry. Michael Jordan was very disagreeable and had a bigger chip on his shoulder than Jordan.
The reason nobody shoots that way is because it's basically a trick shot. That reverse flick of the wrist is not something everyone can do. Have you ever tried this crap? It would take years for a player to master this technique.
Shaq was a superstar who wasn't particularly conscientious or creative.
The argument that Shaq could have called up Rick and then somehow magically shot 90% by switching to granny is a good example of why can’t trust Malcolm Gladwell’s conclusions. He seems to like a good story better than an accurate understanding.
Gladwell is simply a liar when convenient for him. Wilt shot free throws underhanded for years (copying Guy Rogers), and was more and more terrible at it before switching back to overhand but shooting from the circle and other craziness. He was better at Kansas, when he shot overhand and carefully, then at ANY point in the NBA.
Barry's underhand method is way harder than you think.
Sorry, Gladwell's pop psychology is just utter bullshit. I used to be into his stuff, see Blink, but here is an example that breaks his theory, Michael Jordan.
Plus he;s a liar and a fraud. Wilt was a terrible underhanded free thrower who nonetheless kept shooting that way for years. (At LEAST '63, '64 and '65, but maybe NOT in ;62, when he shot 28-32 in the 100 point game.)
MJ had this in spades! What’s he talking about!
Why wasn't Willie Mays' basket catch more popular?
This man is the kyrie Irving of podcasting. He uses some flashy buzzwords and an intriguing cadence but he doesn’t really say anything 🥴
Lmao the man wrote the book of basketball
Drexlay bill or malcom?
@@hudsoneezy Yes, and it was terrible
Shaq could have replaced his hands with robotic arms and he would still shot 45% guys. He’s a bad free throw shooter because he’s a bad shooter, he never had a reason to practice shooting from any distance. Him practicing free throws would be a waste of his time.
love this and Im only 3 minutes in. Great job Malcom and Bill for bringing us this great content.
Kobe or MJ?
Rick gave you buckets!!!! In your face…. At a time when the league had Tiny, McAdoo, Celtics (Havlecik, Jo Jo, Silas, ) Bucks (Big O, Kareem, Dandridge)
Bullets (Big E, Unseld)
Barry was the best in 1975 , straight murder
His highest ppg in the NBA was his 2nd year. '66-'67? By '75 he was in his 30's.
They won the championship… and he killed everybody.
The next year same thing but somebody pissed him off and he did not shoot the ball for the final quarter and a half and they lost.
@@jsyd634 He didn't "kill everybody". The Warriors had only the 4th best record in the NBA. In '76 they had a better record, but lost in the playoffs. Perhaps the Ricky Sobers incident was important, though Barry denies this.
Are you serious
The year they won the championship who else was putting up the points every night vs the Bullets.
Keith Wilkes? Clifford Ray? Who. Nobody could guard him and it wasn’t like he was avg 12pts or something. 29.5!!!
What do you have against this dude?
Leading scorer every night.
As for the incident …. Just watch the 2nd half.
He did it … for whatever reason.
@@jsyd634 What part of "The Warriors had only the 4th best record in the NBA" are you deeming "not serious"?
There's no question that Barry carried the Warriors on his back to the NBA championship, but carrying the Warriors vs the Bullets is no basis for claiming Barry "killed everybody". The Bullets weren't "everybody". And three of the actual "everybody" were so comprehensively not "killed" that they had better records than the Warriors.
That said, I probably rate Barry higher on the best-of-all-time list than most do.
Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul Jabbar... All pretty low in agreeableness
Maybe Kareem, but Jordan and Kobe definitely cared about how people saw them. It's what drove them. They needed to talk trash. They needed to average 35. They needed to be not only the best, but seen as the best. Barry and Kareem didn't. Kareem was so good and so unaproachable that it very nearly destroyed the league. Barry never gave a s**t about people thought about him, so they don't. There is no star in the league like that, and the way that the media affects the league there will probably never be another player like that.
@@phillipbell4394 - I think people are misunderstanding the psychological term agreeableness with the general term agreeableness...Jordan was near obsessed with his image and how people saw him.
I don't know, he's not from Nigeria
If Malcom has taught us anything, it's that anyone can be from Nigeria, if you want them to be.
One correction: Elon Musk didn’t create Tesla, he came from a rich family, bought it, and did his best to take all the credit. Not the entrepreneur people make him out to be.
Musk bought into Tesla fairly early with money from PayPal, not inherited money.
Yeah or if, instead of finding basketball or computer programming, Ricky Barry found meth, he’d be kicked out of the house and also eventually living in San Jose. I don’t like Gladwell’s enormous assumptions.
Um, He's pretty much describing Kobe Bryant's mentality as a basketball player. Kobe (early Kobe. Maybe not as much from 2008 to the end of his career) barely cared about his teammates let alone what they thought of him and he was obsessively (and selfishly) driven for greatness.
Barry passed.
I missed the Berry era, even though Rick gets really butt hurt when you mention his lack of shooting in Game 7 vs Phoenix where he sure looked like he wanted to take his ball home… I think if Rick was on your team, you liked him, but he definitely can be difficult… also Shaq could have been the most dominating force ever if he had just used the underhand method (Shaq you are like 350-400 lbs and you love roasting comedy, you can just point to all your rings)
Who is this "Berry"?
Ft = relaxation, concentration, confidence, routine, form . Rick has 6 ft shooters with better percentages in front of him though first in the ABA. None use that form underhanded . And of the top 50 in both leagues he is an Outlier in form . MG has an outlier problem his hero worship bias . Because mechanically that form doesnt make sense.
@@RK-um9tu I like mg generally but in this case hes made a mistake Barry's concentration and relaxation have more to do with his success and his methodology is fine for his oversized hands and longish fingers but the same couldve been accomplished by him shooting like his set or jumpshot maybe even a higher percentage . Because I think in the two handed form he over uses the left arm levers. I've noted also his sons who were nba players didnt use underhand and were highly effective ft shooters not quite as good as dad but 80s % wise.
Shorter players have to work on their shot, so they are good FT shooters. Big guys, especially Shaq and Dwight and others, don't work on their shot. That's not their game. But their FTs suck, and that does affect their game, which is taking it to the hoop.
Shaq should have pushed himself and become a good FT shooter, regardless of which method he used. But for a Dominant big that isn't going to be in the gym, working on his shot for his game, then the Underhanded FT is easier. Underhand throw imparts backspin, which lets the ball hit the backboard and roll right in. It is easier to do than a regular jumpshot.
Yeah, Steve Nash and others who make a living on their jump shot, they are good FT shooters. But for bigs who don't have a midrange shot, but are best taking it to the hoop, they still need to be able to make FTs. If they did, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
And furthermore, the stats don't matter because it was about what Shaq said. If he could be guaranteed to become a good FT shooter, he wouldn't do it if it made him look lame. He chose to leave something on the table.
@@shorewall that doesn't make Shaq smart in a team sense because he missed minutes being benched and from a personal standpoint he was more concerned with personal image than adding to his scoring average by missing half of his attempts had he made more there'd have been fewer opponent transition points just by the mere fact they'd have to take it out of bounds. Moses and Hakeem were smarter though . Because they made theirs.
@@terencewinters2154 Barry's sons were raised by their estranged mother, and learned basketball without any input from him. Plus they got hops from their mother's side, evidently, as Rick didn't have any. (Amazingly, Brent won the slam dunk contest!)
@@shorewall You keep repeating this nonsense about free throws hitting the backboard. Good free throw shooters don't hit the backboard.
The reason the best free throw shooters are generally short is that the shooting talent selection filter operates more strongly against short players. A big guy can have a career even if he's not a talented shooter. Short guys can't. But there are a lot more of them around.
There's not actually much discussion of Barry's career here, just Gladwell pushing his totally bogus story about Wilt abandoning the underhanded free throw despite great success with it because he didn't like the way he thought it made him look. You'd think Simmons would immediately recognize what a cock and bull story that is, but he doesn't seem to.
Subject for consideration: Barry didn't jump. Like, hardly at all. But one of his sons won the slam dunk title. Why was Rick so much better a player than Brent?
This Rick Barry free throw thing has to end. There are many reasons why underhanded technique didn’t catch on and none of them are because the way it looks. The main issue is that it is a non-transferable skill, meaning any practice with underhanded free throw form isn’t training normal shooting form, which is a main benefit from free throw practice. There are many others I could list but this idea players aren’t doing it because it looks lame is just illogical.
I agree that the reason for not shooting ft underhanded has little or nothing to do with how it looks.
Free throw shooting transfers to jump shots hardly at all. So, no, that's not it.
But if you shoot overhand, why WOULD you even try underhand free throws?
Though Hal Greer used jump shots to shoot free throws for exactly the "transferability" reason. So there's that.
@@gandydancer9710 Free throw shooting is quite literally one of the best ways to improve your jumpshot form, that is objectively about as wrong as anything anyone has ever said. I still use an old educational video with my students from Bird where he explains the importance of free throw practice and how it improves overall shooting fundamentals. And people would try underhanded because it does have advantages, it is a simpler motion with less movement and thus easier to learn for new players/poor shooters. But this improvement is only very slight and for elite overhanded shooters the advantage is basically null. Rick Barry was going to shoot around 90% from the line because he was a great shooter, not because of the shooting form he was using.
@@garrettclayton4741 Underhand is not a simpler motion with less movement. IMHO it is a longer movement of fully extended arms that is harder to remain in control of and reproduce.
But Rick Barry was anyway going to be a great free throw shooter because he had the arm-hand-eye coordination and the aptitude to practice it.
But he was never going to be a 40% 3-point shooter unless he developed entirely different shooting mechanics for that purpose. With very different "jump shooting fundamentals" than his actual shot.
It's not why people didn't do it, it's why they stopped doing it. They all used to do it.
No, they didn't. But some did, and now no one does.
how agreeable was shaq or mj?
I'd say MJ was pretty disagreeable. I think if you watch interviews Rick comes off more so, but Mike was known to punch a teammate or two in his day.
Thank you Bill!!!! What a pleasure to listen to Malcolm!
Gladwell is a liar and a fraud.
LMFAOOOOOOOO this guy looks like your prototypical Tv show mad scientist.
Edit: this man is very well spoken and I hope to hear more from him
Gladwell is a liar and a fraud.
Wilt would have averaged about 33 points/game if he would have stuck with the underhand FT and asked Barry for some help during the off seasons.
What are you talking about? Wilt averaged way more than 33 points no matter how he shot free throws as long as his usage rate was off the charts.
@@gandydancer9710 Wilt averaged 30 PTS for his career because he missed so many FT but would have been +33 PTS if he stuck with the underhanded FT. Those are free points that he missed out on was my point. You're right that he could have averaged more if he shot more but the video was about players not shooting underhanded FT.
@@2badger2 Gladwell is full of sh!t. Wilt did NOT shoot free throws effectively underhanded, and probably was shooting them overhanded in his 28 of 32 game. It was only after his free throw percentage dropped off a cliff that he tried copying Guy Rogers' underhanded style, and that had to be AFTER 1962 since 1962 was one of his better (maybe his best) free throw shooting year (maybe 62%, iirc). Gladwell didn't even listen to his own podcast, where Barry talks about how bad Wilt's form was underhanded.
Elon Musk was not the founder of Tesla, Malcolm, and it's a shame that you don't seem to know that because you're such a great writer.*
The ACTUAL founders met Elon 15 years ago, or so & they became friend, put him on the board of Tesla, and then he essentially began a hostile takeover & pushed most, if not all of them out of the company.
*(I know he's not gonna read the comment.)
I thought that asterisk was going to read: *(by reputation)
Malcolm Gladwell is such a hack. So mad I had to study 3 of his books in college.
Gladwell is a fraud and, as here, a liar.
Kobe too
Shaq is in my top 10 dude
BARRY RICK NERD
MJ: "Malcolm said basketball superstars are agreeable and want to get along with people. That means he implied that I wanted to get along with Jerry Krause. I took offense to that!"
Bill having Shaq out of the top 10 is still ridiculous…
It’s justifiable chill now...
@@SuperMisteryMan01 no
Well Shaq is behind Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Magic, Bird, MJ, Duncan, and Lebron for sure. So he is somewhere between 9 and 15 depending on how you call it. He is roughly on par with Kobe, Hakeem, KD, Curry, and maybe one or two others I am forgetting. Calling him top 12 is pretty reasonable.
@@harmonicarchipelgo9351 I put him at 5, behind Kareem, Lebron, Jordan, and Russell. Dude was dominant. Love Bird and Magic, but they had short careers.
@@samuelbach1631 wilt was even more dominant, and had better skills to boot. shaq only had bully-ball, wilt had finesse with is fadeaway bank shot and his distance finger roll.
Jordan was also quite disagreeable during his early to mid Bulls career. Kobe, too, copying Jordan. It took Phil Jackson's mind games to trick them into buying in.
Kobe and Michael weren’t high in agreeableness. Plenty of others aren’t either.
This is awesome, Gladwell is amazing
Gladwell is a liar and a fraud.
The hell is Richard Simmons doing on here talking bout basketball instead of exercising?
I know who Malcolm Gladwell is before anyone assumes I'm a dumbass