USAP : One of the beauties of pickleball is that it ’ s multigenerational . How many sports are there where grandparents can play with their grandkids ? So , as somebody who has been involved in sports your entire life and coached , what is your vision for the sport moving forward ?
RB : Everybody [ sees ] the growth of the sport . Everybody is starting to put up pickleball courts . You can get a relatively inexpensive paddle and find a place to play , so the accessibility is great and more and more young people are getting into it now . But we also have examples like my wife ’ s parents , who play tennis . We got them out onto the pickleball court , and it is so much easier for them . That ’ s the beauty of it . It ’ s something that can be played by people who aren ’ t great athletes , but you can still have fun and get a little bit of a physical workout .
USAP : You obviously had a tremendous basketball career , but one of the things you ’ re known for is leading the league in free throw percentage — and doing it underhanded . You ’ re somebody who is not afraid to do something different . How did your personality and your history play into picking up a sport like pickleball when a lot of people were still wondering “ What the heck is pickleball ”?
RB : That ’ s who I am . I challenged the reserve clause and opened the door for players to move and make a whole lot of money . I ’ ve always been someone to speak my opinion . So , if there ’ s a chance to do something that I like — that ’ s not doing anything illegal — what do I care what you think ? And that ’ s the way I ’ ve always done things in life . Anybody who wants to show me something that could potentially make me better at what I ’ m doing , I want to hear about it .
USAP : So , you ’ ve probably got some pretty good stories about people who have played against you , having no idea who you were , and then afterward they realized they played an NBA Hall-of-Famer . What is that like ?
RB : Oh , it ’ s fun . They ’ ll go , “ Oh , I had no idea who you were .” And I say , “ Well , I had no idea who you were , so we started off on the same level .” People will come up and want to play or take a photo . It ’ s just great that people love the game .
USAP : What would you say to somebody who says pickleball is a trend ?
RB : Try it . You ’ ll like it . I haven ’ t had anybody come back to me that I ’ ve gotten to try the game say anything negative . In fact , if anything , they call me and say , “ Rick , thank you so much . I love pickleball .” Give yourself a chance to do something that you really can
get some enjoyment and pleasure out of . Life is too short .
USAP : Do you talk pickleball with former basketball players ?
RB : I try to get every one of them to start playing . I tried to get Hakeem Olajuwon to play . It ’ s great to see [ Dirk ] Nowitzki playing and Kevin Durant playing and LeBron buying a team . These guys will find that this is going to be something they can do when they ’ re done and not let themselves get big and fat . You can get a good workout , it ’ s fun and the competition is there . I would highly recommend pickleball to every pro athlete when they ’ re done playing their sport .
USAP : What skills do you think translate from basketball to pickleball ?
RB : Reaction time and hand / eye coordination . I can ’ t move as quickly as I could before , but my reaction and my hands are still great .
USAP : What ’ s the question I should be asking you that I ’ m not ?
RB : Pickleball is kind of like fly fishing for me . Everybody must have a passion in life . And I think that if you start to play this thing , it ’ ll become a passion for you . It ’ s addictive . If I had a wish , I ’ d wish that I had been turned on to fly fishing and pickleball earlier in my life .
Barry is the only basketball player to have won championships in both the NBA and ABA and is among the best all-around players in history .
CREDIT : GETTY IMAGES / DICK RAPHAEL
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NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2022 | MAGAZINE 65