Please Rewind Talent Wall

Brent Barry

Brent Barry’s public career belongs to basketball rather than the movies, but it has still given him plenty of time on screen. Born on December 31, 1971, in Hempstead, New York, Barry followed his father, Hall of Famer Rick Barry, into the sport and developed a game built around range, passing and unusual versatility. After attending De La Salle High School in Concord, California, Barry played four years for Oregon State University and graduated with a sociology degree in 1995. The Denver Nuggets selected him with the 15th pick in that year’s NBA draft, then traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers on draft night. His rookie season quickly supplied a defining image: a Julius Erving-inspired, one-handed dunk from the free-throw line that won the 1996 Slam Dunk Contest. He was the competition’s first white winner. Barry’s NBA career took him through the Clippers, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Seattle SuperSonics, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets. At 6 feet 7 inches, he could operate as a point guard, shooting guard or small forward. He averaged more than five assists in three seasons and shot 40 percent from three-point range, a combination that made him particularly useful as a point forward. His five seasons in Seattle included an eventual move into the starting point-guard role, while his years with San Antonio brought the deepest postseason run of his career. He was part of the Spurs teams that won NBA championships in 2005 and 2007. After his playing career ended in 2009, Barry remained visible around the league. He appeared regularly on NBA TV’s The Starters, worked on TNT broadcasts and later moved into the Spurs’ front office as vice president of basketball operations in 2018. The Phoenix Suns hired him as an assistant coach in 2024, and in 2025 he joined Amazon Prime’s NBA announcing team. There are no Brent Barry movies connected to Please Rewind yet, but his television work extends a career shaped by an ability to read the floor and communicate what he sees.