Ricky Alan Berry (October 6, 1964 – August 14, 1989) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA) for the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

Early life

Berry was born in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, maki ...

in 1964, when his father

Bill Berry William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guita ...

was a student-athlete at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. The Berry family moved to the

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

area in 1966 when Bill Berry became head coach at a local high school and later Cosumnes River Junior College. Berry attended Live Oak High School in

Morgan Hill, California Morgan Hill is a city in Santa Clara County, California, at the southern tip of Silicon Valley, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Morgan Hill is an affluent residential community, the seat of several high-tech companies, and a dining, entertainme ...

when his father became head coach at

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

in 1979.

Basketball career

Berry was and played

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular c ...

. After graduating from high school, he played for

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

in the 1983–84 season, and then transferred to San Jose State in 1984 to play under his father Bill Berry. After sitting out one year per transfer rules, Berry played for the San Jose State Spartans from 1985 to 1988. Berry was selected 18th overall in the

1988 NBA draft The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their ...

by the

and had a solid rookie season, averaging 11.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists while shooting 40.6 percent from three-point range. Berry is one of only three former San Jose State players to have his jersey retired, when San Jose State retired his number 34 jersey.

Death

In the 1989 off-season, and just weeks before his 25th birthday, Berry was found dead after a self-inflicted gunshot. He had showed no signs of depression, but left a

suicide note A suicide note or death note is a message left behind by a person who dies or intends to die by suicide. A study examining Japanese suicide notes estimated that 25–30% of suicides are accompanied by a note. However, incidence rates may depen ...

in which he reportedly wrote that his wife did not love him and was taking advantage of him.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

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, 64 , , 21 , , 22.0 , , .450 , , .406 , , .789 , , 3.1 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .3 , , 11.0

References

External links

Article about Ricky Berry's NBA signing (published August 3, 1988)
at ''The New York Times''

at ''The New York Times'' * [https://andscape.com/features/thirty-years-ago-the-nba-lost-ricky-berry-kings-guard-committed-suicide/ 'He was Reggie Miller with a handle': Thirty years ago, the NBA lost Ricky Berry (published August 14, 2019, Mark J. Spears)] @ theundefeated.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Ricky 1964 births 1989 suicides American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1987 Pan American Games Basketball players from Sacramento, California Basketball players from Michigan Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Oregon State Beavers men's basketball players Pan American Games medalists in basketball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States People from Fair Oaks, California People from Morgan Hill, California Sacramento Kings draft picks Sacramento Kings players San Jose State Spartans men's basketball players Small forwards Sportspeople from Lansing, Michigan Suicides by firearm in California