New York Knicks legend and 2024 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Dick Barnett has died at the age of 88, the Knicks announced on Sunday. Barnett passed in his sleep over the weekend at a senior living center in Florida, according to the New York Post.
Barnett, a 14-year NBA veteran who spent eight years with the Knicks after being traded from the Lakers in 1965, helped lead the Knicks to two championships in 1970 and 1973.
Barnett, a lefty, was given the nickname “Fallback Baby” for his unique shooting style that saw him transfer an extra bit of energy upward by pulling his heels to his butt, almost as though doing a hamstring curl in mid air, before letting it fly with a unusually high release and falling slightly back on the follow through.
Barnett, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, averaged over 23 PPG in his first season with the Knicks and made his lone All-Star team in 1968. He registered as a top-10 scorer in four different seasons a top-20 assist man in two.
One of the most interesting details of Barnett’s career is that in the well-chronicled Willis Reed game, when Reed famously limped onto the court before the start of Game 7 of the 1970 Finals, it was actually Barnett who scored 21 points to Reed’s four in that game while also taking on the assignment of guarding Jerry West.
The Knicks won that game 113-99 for their first championship in franchise history, with Barnett averaging over 18 PPG and four assists while playing 40 minutes per game in that decisive series.
