Ex-NBA player and New York Supreme Court judge Barry Kramer dead at 82

Former NBA player-turned lawyer and judge Barry Kramer died Saturday at the age of 82.

Kramer, a native of Schenectady, New York, was named an All-American while playing collegiately for NYU before being selected by the San Francisco Warriors in the 1964 NBA Draft.

He played 33 games for the Warriors and also suited up for the New York Knicks in 19 games that same 1964-65 season.

However, he chose to leave basketball behind to pursue a career in law instead, graduating from Albany Law School in 1968.

Kramer also briefly appeared for the ABA’s New York Nets in the 1969-70 season.

Kramer excelled in law as well, being named by Gov. Mario Cuomo to the Surrogate Court in 1993 before being elected as a New York Supreme Court justice in 2009. 

Kramer later became a lawyer and then a judge for the New York Supreme Court

‘I can’t tell you how many people that grew up in Schenectady looked up to Barry Kramer,’ Bob Pezzano, who attended Linton High School like Kramer told the Albany Times-Union.

‘They wanted to jump like Barry. They wanted to be able to go to the hoop and finish like Barry. People today may not realize that NYU was a power in those days. They were the cream of the crop in New York City, which was great for college basketball at that time. … He had a classic game against Duke when he scored 34 points. People loved him in the Garden. Twice, he scored 42 points in Madison Square Garden.’

Kramer also attended Linton at the same time as NBA icon Pat Riley, formerly a pro player and coach and currently the president of the Miami Heat.

‘Barry Kramer was the greatest player in the history of Schenectady. I knew him well. He taught me so much when I played with him,’ Riley told the Associated Press.

‘And he was just a great, great friend and man. I idolized him. They always compared Barry and I, asking ‘Who’s the best from Schenectady High School? Barry Kramer or Pat Riley?’ And every time they asked me, I said ‘Barry Kramer knocked my tooth out in a 1-on-1 game to toughen me up. He was the greatest player that day in Schenectady, New York.’

Kramer was also inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.