Marvin passed away today at the age of 62. He was one of the great characters and players in basketball history. Barnes was a 6'8" forward from Providence college who came to the ABA in 1974 with the Spirits of St. Louis. In the 1975 playoffs he outplayed Julius Erving, leading St. Louis to a huge upset of defending Champion New York. Barnes averaged 24-16-3 and 2 blocks as a rookie. Some stories: Bob Costas got his start in 1974 doing radio for the Spirits. He recalls one of his first meetings with Barnes in the team. Harvey Weltman was the President of the Spirits during their two years of existence. Rod Thorn was the coach of the Nets in 1974-75 and the Spirits for part of 1975-76. Costas Recalls: Barnes: Don Chaney, the former Celtics and Laker guard and longtime NBA coach who played one year with Barnes. Steve Jones, another former team mate of Barnes and former TNT and NBA on NBC analyst: From there Spirits GM Rudy Martzke picks up the story... Costas picks up the story at it's turning point... Jones wraps up the episode... *As a side note Barnes went for 51 and 19 rebounds that game despite sitting the first 8 minutes. Finally, Costas on Barnes fear of flying...sometimes... http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=198174