A List Conversation: Jim Barnett
Warrior's TV announcer Jim Barnett will be radio broadcaster Bruce Macgowan’s next guest on A List Series of Conversations - continuing his lively conversations with Bay Area sports personalities.
Longtime Warriors TV broadcaster Jim Barnett is truly a basketball lifer. Barnett just finished his 25th consecutive season working as the analyst on the Golden State Warriors' Television broadcasts, and his popular, sometimes humorous and always entertaining style has made him a favorite among Bay Area sports fans.
Before going behind the mike in the late 1980s, Barnett was a very successful college and pro player who managed to survive for 11 seasons in the NBA, mostly as a highly valued sixth man for a number of teams around the league.
Barnett played his college ball at the University of Oregon where he earned the nickname 'Crazy Horse,' for his all-out efforts on the court. It was not uncommon to see him frequently overplaying opponents on defense, or diving for a loose ball on the floor to give his team an edge. He quickly became a fan favorite with Ducks' fans in Eugene. An All-Americanat Oregon, the 6'5' guard was inducted in the Pac 12 basketball Hall of Honor just a few months ago.
Drafted out of college in 1966 by the perennial defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics, Barnett played his rookie season on a Celtics with superstar center Bill Russell, and clutch shooting guard John Havlicek. The Celtics had already won nine NBA crowns by the time Barnett arrived in Boston, as legendary Coach Red Auerbach had put together the greatest collection of winning teams in the league's young history.
Barnett's second stop was with the expansion San Diego Rockets, and then he spent a season with the Portland Trailblazers where he enjoyed his best campaign statistically, averaging better than 18 points a game. Although he was only in Portland for one season, he became a favorite of Blazers' fans and
beloved radio play by play announcer Bill Schonley who came up with his trademark call: 'RIP CITY!' by first describing a last second basket by Barnett.
In the early 1970s, Jim Barnett joined the Warriors and played in Oakland for three memorable seasons. Those Warrior teams featured the two greatest players in franchise history: Hall of Famers Nate Thurmond and Rick Barry, as well as other notable standouts such as 'Jazzy Cazzy' Russell. Coach Al Attles would later guide the Warriors to a 'Cinderella' NBA Title in 1975.
Other stops later in Barnett's career included stints with the New Orleans Jazz where he got to play with the amazing Pete Maravich, the New York Knicks, where he backed up the fabulous Hall of Fame tandem of Walt 'Clyde' Frazier and Earl 'the Pearl' Monroe, and finally the Philadelphia 76ers where he was a teammate of the great superstar Julius 'Dr J' Erving.
Barnett has continued to play competitive basketball in age 40 and over leagues for many years, and he loves the game as much as ever.