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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player in the

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

(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 Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

Early life

Berry was born in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

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 or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

. The Berry family moved to the

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

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, when his father became head coach at San Jose State in 1979.

Basketball career

Berry was and played

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

. After graduating from high school, he played for Oregon State 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 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.

Personal life

Berry was married and had a son. Friends of his believed that Berry suffered from stress because of his marriage and he also engaged in

infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include non-consensual non-monogamy, cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, se ...

. Berry had a strained relationship with his parents who only lived two hours away when he was playing in Sacramento; he eloped without the approval of his parents and his mother did not like his wife.

Death

On August 14, 1989, Berry was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot at his home in

Carmichael, California Carmichael is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County, California, United States. It is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated suburb in the Sacramento metropolitan area, Greater Sacramento metropolitan ...

. It was alleged that he had been involved in a heated argument with his wife the previous night. Berry had shown no signs of depression, but left a

suicide note A suicide note or death note is a message written by a person who 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 depend on ethnic ...

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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Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

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References

External links

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

at ''The New York Times'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Ricky 1964 births 1989 suicides 1989 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Sacramento, California Basketball players from Lansing, Michigan Basketball players at the 1987 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in basketball Oregon State Beavers men's basketball players Sportspeople from Fair Oaks, California People from Morgan Hill, California Basketball players from Santa Clara County, California Sacramento Kings draft picks Sacramento Kings players San Jose State Spartans men's basketball players Small forwards Suicides by firearm in California 20th-century American sportsmen