On July 19, Hall of Famer Rick Barry took a nasty spill while riding his bike in Colorado Springs, Colo. The 70-year old ABA and NBA great cracked his helmet, needed surgery to repair fractures, and plenty of stitches to patch up his skin.
As always, Barry is counting on his indomitable will and fighting spirit to get him through an arduously long rehab stint. Per NBA.com:
“I’ve always been very dedicated to things,” Barry said on the phone from his home. “I’ve always been very strong-willed. If I make my mind up to do something, I’m going to do it. Just like when I was a young kid. I was stupid and I smoked cigarettes. I just flat out said, ‘This is crazy. This is hurting my basketball.’ And so I just quit. I look at everything as a challenge. That’s the way I approach things, especially if it’s things I’m not especially fond of. I look at them as challenges and I hate to lose, so when I make it a challenge, it drives me and motivates me because I’m going to make sure I’m the one that comes out victorious.”
He is not especially fond of the rehab work, needless to say. He calls it extended training camp — and Barry hated training camps. But the strong will that helped drive him to 12 All-Star games in the NBA and ABA, the brash attitude that made him one of the game’s top personalities as well as a premier player, the determination that propelled the underdog Warriors of 1975 to their only West Coast title — it all helps now.
“I just feel fortunate that it wasn’t worse than what it was,” he said. “I hit my head and the helmet cracked and all, but I didn’t have any head damage or anything at all, so that was a blessing. I could have had broken ribs and broken arms, other things that would have made it even worse trying to do the rehab. It’s hard enough with my broken left hand. That’s made it difficult enough. But, hey, everybody gets thrown. You get little bumps when you’re going down the road of life, and you deal with them and you move on. That’s the way it has to be. You can’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself. I just feel grateful that it’s not worse than what it was.”
