Rick Barry Discusses Boston Celtics Stars, 2024 Olympics Controversies

Eric Jay Santos | Aug 31, 2024

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry became an NBA champion when the Golden State Warriors went the distance in 1975. Nearly 50 years later, the eight-time All-Star watched Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown win their first title. 

In an exclusive interview with Boston Celtics On SI, Barry shared his thoughts on the Boston Celtics’ championship run and controversy related to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Our discussion is edited for length, clarity, and grammar.

Eric Jay Santos: The Boston Celtics just captured their 18th NBA championship back in June. What are your thoughts on their playoff run? 

Rick Barry: The Celtics should be proud of themselves. It was a tremendous accomplishment. They had incredibly high expectations and were able to rise to the occasion and achieve what everyone thought they should. There were no guarantees, but they pulled it off. God bless them for that. Congratulations.

It reminded me a lot of my old team, the 1975 Golden State Warriors, because they seemed to have a strong affection for one another too. They were like a family… It was great to see Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum learn from their past mistakes and experiences to become better players and achieve the ultimate goal. The coaching staff and team did a great job meeting the high expectations placed upon them.

Eric Jay Santos: Jayson Tatum finished sixth in regular season MVP voting. Where would you rank him now? 

Rick Barry: He’s certainly one of the best players in the league. The NBA screws things up all the time. I've been telling them this for decades: you can’t have a Most Valuable Player in an unbalanced schedule. They need to have an MVP for the Eastern Conference and an MVP for the Western Conference because then they have a balanced schedule. Then you can have discussions on who’s more deserving in each of the conferences. Having one overall NBA MVP makes no sense. No other league does this—why the NBA does is beyond me.

Regardless, what difference does it make? You’re playing to win championships, not for individual honors. If you happen to get chosen, great, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal because those decisions are made by other people, and it's a very subjective process. There's no objectivity to it whatsoever. If someone on the voting committee doesn't like you, they might not vote for you. It's crazy. I remember the year that we won the championship, the league had the players vote for awards, which is the dumbest thing ever because players let their emotions get involved. So, I didn't end up getting an award that I might have deserved. But you know what? I have a championship ring, and that's what I played for.

Eric Jay Santos: While Tatum was selected for the All-NBA First Team, Jaylen Brown was named both the Eastern Finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP. Who do you consider to be the Celtics’ top player? 

Rick Barry: I would think that the Celtics are very happy with both of them… Jayson didn’t have super high stats, shooting percentage and such, but he played really well all around. Who cares? The whole idea is to win the championship. It’s not about individual honors. Those guys did a great job of playing together, as did all of their teammates.

Eric Jay Santos: Looking at next season, do you think the Celtics are in a position to have a dynasty? 

Rick Barry: It’s a little premature for that. They won one. Let's see what happens next season. Winning back-to-back championships is not easy. Hopefully, they’ll find a way to achieve that. I don't think they've made any significant changes. When you win, you have to be careful not to change your roster too much. That happened to us—we got rid of Butch Beard, our point guard, which I think really hurt us and cost us a chance to be repeat champions. Hopefully, they’ll be smart enough to keep their team together and not do anything to screw up the chemistry they had.

Eric Jay Santos: What are your thoughts on the 2024 Paris Olympics?

Rick Barry: Team USA did a great job picking some really talented players, and they did what was needed. Stephen Curry didn't play particularly well until the last two games, when they really needed him. Jayson didn’t even start in some games, but again, it doesn’t matter. The goal is to win the gold medal, and whoever gets the job done that’s great. People made a big deal about Jayson not starting or playing much, but they won by 20 points. Clearly, whoever Steve Kerr put in the game played well enough to win convincingly. Jayson needs to accept that’s part of being on a team with so many great players—you have to accept your role and be happy to be part of something special. The entire team did a great job, and it was nice to see that effort.

I was really impressed with Anthony Davis, by the fact that he became more of a rim protector and wasn’t worried about scoring. LeBron was totally into it emotionally, so it was a great effort. I'm especially happy because I'm a big fan of Steph Curry. Of course, he plays for my old team, and he really stepped up in those last two games. Without him, they don’t win those games. It was a great effort from the entire team and it was nice to see.

Eric Jay Santos: Team USA’s Olympic run was without Brown. Do you think that he was snubbed? 

Rick Barry: Certainly, you can’t say that he wasn’t deserving of being on the team, but he wasn’t chosen. That’s life. Hopefully, he’ll have something to look forward to and be on the next Olympic team. Still, he’s a professional basketball player, a Finals MVP, and he won a championship. The Olympics is another great thing, but it’s a different world and experience. He missed out on that. I feel sorry for him. Was he deserving of being on the team? Absolutely, but he wasn’t. That’s life—things happen sometimes that you don’t agree with.

The biggest disappointment of my career was not making the Olympic team in 1964. So, I can understand why that’s something that was probably disconcerting for him. But Jaylen is a great player, and his life is set. Hopefully, he’ll keep playing, and he’s young enough to compete in the next Olympics.

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