Jim Barnett once felt Nate Thurmond’s wrath when he was caught without a coat and tie.
Speaking at the Basketball Hall of Famer’s funeral last July, Barnett, in his 32nd season as the Golden State Warriors television analyst, recalled the two attending a benefit luncheon for an ill former player.
Barnett thought he was appropriately clad in a nice shirt and slacks. But when Thurmond saw Barnett, the Akron native and Central High School graduate was incensed.
“Nate took me aside and said, ‘I don’t want to ever see you at a function like this without wearing a coat and tie. You work for the Warriors. You represent the Warriors wherever you go. You not having a coat and tie on is disrespectful,’ ” Barnett said in a telephone interview on May 31. “There was no point in resisting because he was dead serious. It was like a father scolding the child. I agreed with him and took the medicine.
“He was a class act with dignity. He saw the big picture and he carried himself with that kind of dignity and class.”
Barnett played three seasons in the 1970s with Thurmond, named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. Their friendship deepened in recent years, talking at long lunches with former teammate Tom Meschery before Thurmond died of leukemia on July 16 at age 74.
When a Bay Area charity auctioned 24 of Thurmond’s ties last November, Barnett found another way to keep Thurmond close.
“I bought the ties for $1,500. I would have paid $3,000 for them,” Barnett said. “These are all designer ties. Some of them had never been worn. The ones that had, you don’t know — they’re better than my ties. I get a lot of compliments on them. I love going on television knowing I have one of Nate’s ties on.”
Barnett wore one for Game 2 of the NBA Finals as the Warriors defeated the Cavaliers, whom Thurmond played with for two seasons, including the “Miracle of Richfield” year in 1975-76. While the team uniforms have sported a patch with Thurmond’s No. 42 all season, Barnett has found a way to continue to remember his friend even when those tributes are removed.
“I think it’s a terrific metaphor for his life in some ways,” said Meschery, who with Thurmond is among six Warriors to have their number retired. “He was a sartorial splendid fellow. But he was way, way more than that.”
History with Warriors
Drafted by the Warriors third overall in 1963 out of Bowling Green, Thurmond spent more than four decades with the Warriors as a player and community relations ambassador. One of the charities the team supports is the Good Tidings Foundation, founded in 1995 by Larry Harper, a former director of scouting for the San Francisco Giants. As part of its mission to help underserved youth, the foundation refurbishes athletic facilities.
It has repaved 74 basketball courts in its 23 years and its first, in the panhandle near Golden Gate Park, is dedicated to Thurmond, who attended every court opening, representing the Warriors.
“I was intrigued not many athletes lived in San Francisco. Here was one of the 50 greatest players of all time living in San Francisco and working every day at Big Nate’s BBQ,” Harper said of Thurmond and his restaurant, which he sold in 2011. “Could you imagine Michael Jordan, these hall of famers doing this on a daily basis?
“I thought, ‘This could be the greatest San Francisco athlete who still lives in the city and he’s still this unknown guy.’ Once we started working the Warriors I said we need to honor him with a court in San Francisco. I went to his restaurant and introduced myself and said, ‘I want to do this.’ He thought it was a great idea.
“It got Nate the recognition he deserved. He got out at a lot of these charitable functions where everybody got to know the greatness of the person, which was even better than the athlete.”
Court rededicated
Thurmond’s court was repaved and rededicated on Oct. 4, with Barnett and former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, Thurmond’s former agent, among the speakers.
The Good Tidings Foundation’s fundraiser was held on Nov. 11. Among the items included in the auction was a 2006 print of Thurmond done by LeRoy Neiman, another friend of the charity. Harper said it was the idea of Thurmond’s widow, Marci, to donate the ties.
“He was quite the dresser. I didn’t know to what extent,” Harper said in a telephone interview from the Good Tidings office in Burlingame, Calif., on Thursday. “He was always well put together at functions.
“When he passed, Marci said, ‘That was his thing. Some of these ties are $300 apiece from France or Italy. Nate would love for you to have them.’ I thought, ‘That’s cool.’ Then I thought, ‘Boy, would it be odd or inappropriate to auction them off?’ and she said, ‘No, I think he would love that.’ ”
Harper appreciated that the ties went to Barnett. He wore one to a Warriors game on Nov. 18 and tweeted a picture, which got a good reception on social media.
Barnett gave a few to some in the Warriors organization, including coach Steve Kerr, assistant coaches Mike Brown and Jarron Collins and guard Stephen Curry, a basketball history buff. Meschery said he never got one.
“I’m going to call him right now and chew his ass out,” Meschery said of Barnett in a phone call from his Sacramento home Monday.
Barnett kept the bulk of them, cherishing the ties that bind him to Thurmond.
“There’s just something about it,” Barnett said of having a piece of silk that once graced Thurmond’s neck around his. “It doesn’t mean anything to anybody else, but it means a lot to me. It shows respect.”
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.