Two-time Knicks champion whose fall-back jumper was one of the most distinctive shots in basketball history.
Richard Barnett was born in Gary, Indiana in 1936. He attended Tennessee State University before Syracuse Nationals selected him in the 1959 NBA Draft. His 14-season career produced 15.8 points per game and two NBA championships with the New York Knicks (1970, 1973). He was a contributor on some of the most celebrated teams in franchise history — the championship Knicks of Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley. His fall-back jump shot — a wildly unorthodox motion that sent him backwards as he released the ball — became his signature and one of basketball's most distinctive individual shooting forms. He called his own shot fall back, baby — a phrase that entered basketball's vocabulary. He was one of the first great scorers from Tennessee State, a historically Black institution that produced multiple NBA players in the 1960s. He later earned a doctorate from Fordham University and became a college professor. His combination of professional championships and post-basketball academic achievement made him one of the more complete figures from his generation.
Fall back baby jump shot and NBA championships with Knicks
How They Played
Shooting guard with signature fall-away jump shot
Lasting Impact
Two-time NBA champion known for clutch shooting and unique style
NBA Champion 2x (1970,1973)
Career Honours
- NBA Champion 2x (1970,1973)
- ABA All-Star
- Fall back baby jump shot