Barry Canyon. Second of the name.
The son of Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and NBA legend Rick Barry may not have had the same illustrious professional basketball career as his father, but he will now forever be remembered as an Olympic legend after his performance Friday afternoon.
The U.S. men’s 3×3 national basketball team entered Friday with an 0-4 record and without team captain Jimmer Fredette, who has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury.
With no possible replacements and their backs against the wall, the American team won its first victory of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by winning 21-19 against France on Friday.
And Barry doesn’t just shoot free throws with a spoon like his poppers. He also inherited the scorched-earth three-point gene, a quality that partly helped propel Rick Barry to the list of the 50 greatest players in NBA history in 1996.
Canyon Barry scored 15 of Team USA’s 21 points, including the game-winning layup, and shot 4 of 7 from three-point range to single-handedly keep the United States’ hopes of advancing to the round of 16 alive.
The American team has two more games on the schedule: a second game on Friday at 4:35 p.m. against China (a must-win) and the final against the Netherlands on Sunday.
The Americans have no choice but to beat China (1-3) to avoid finishing in last place, but the last two teams after the seven group matches are eliminated from the knockout stage.
Which means Team USA still needs luck to finish sixth to keep hopes of advancing to the next round alive.
The United States needs France to lose to China in their final group stage game.
That’s unlikely given the poor quality of the Chinese team in 3×3, but then again, the American team was winless before beating France on Friday.
For now, the Americans can rejoice in their first Olympic victory in the men’s 3×3 tournament. That same U.S. team, with a healthy Fredette, won silver at the 2023 FIBA World Cup after losing to Serbia in the gold medal game.
And if Fredette can’t go, USA Basketball will need more hot, timely shooting from Canyon Barry, who channeled his father’s superpowers to help Team USA avoid an embarrassing 0-5 hole at the Olympics.
Americans live to fight another day.
Or at least one more hour. A loss to China would end Team USA’s participation in the 2024 Olympics.
