After over 50 years since his last appearance on an NBA court, Tennessee State and New York Knicks legend Dick Barnett is on his way to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. While the league has yet to make a formal announcement, fellow New York legend Walt Frazier revealed Barnett's latest accolade during the broadcast of the Knicks' most recent game against the Miami Heat. Frazier apparently got the scoop from another New York icon and Barnett's teammate, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe.

Barnett garnered national acclaim as a member of the Tennessee A&I (Tennessee State) men's basketball team in the late fifties. The team itself already made the Hall of Fame in 2019 for its stretch from 1957-1959, as the Tigers won three consecutive NAIA national championships. Tennessee A&I became the first HBCU to win a men's national title in 1957, and their success continued on for two more seasons. Barnett was one of the team's driving forces as he earned All-American honors.

Stream the HBCU All-Star Game on CBS live on Sunday, April 7 at 4PM ET with the Paramount+ with SHOWTIME plan. Try it FREE!

Following his collegiate success as a Tennessee A&I Tiger, Dick Barnett decided to enter the 1959 NBA Draft. With the third pick in that draft class, the Philadelphia Warriors selected a seven-footer out of Kansas – a guy named Wilt Chamberlain. A couple selections later, the Syracuse Nationals drafted Barnett with the fifth pick.

Barnett played his first two years in the NBA with the Nationals, though in his third year, he played with the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League. After winning a championship for Cleveland, he returned to the NBA, but the Nationals sold his player rights to the Los Angeles Lakers. Barnett, a prolific scorer, averaged 18 points per game and led the Lakers to an NBA Finals appearance along with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor in the 1963 playoffs. The Lakers would fall to Bill Russell, Sam Jones, John Havlicek, Tommy Heinsohn, and Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics in a six-game series. Los Angeles made it back to the Finals in 1965, but they fell again to the Celtics, this time in five games.

Following the defeat in 1965, Barnett moved to New York, where he would play the rest of his career. His first year as a Knick was, statistically, his best season. He averaged 23.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. The Knicks, however, wouldn't appear in the playoffs until the 1967-68 season, though they got bounced in the first round. Barnett didn't return to the Finals until 1970. With the help of Walt Frazier and HBCU graduate Willis Reed, Barnett and the Knicks secured the franchise's first NBA championship. They would win again in 1973, but by that point, Barnett was at the end of his career. Over his 14-year career in the NBA, Barnett earned one All-Star selection in 1968.