Joe Barry Carroll (born July 24, 1958 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas) is a retired American professional Basketball player who spent ten seasons in the NBA. A 7'1" Center (basketball) who starred at Purdue University, he holds the all-time school records for career and single-season rebounds (1148 and 352, respectively). Carroll was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the first overall pick of the 1980 NBA Draft. Many have labeled Carroll as one of the biggest busts in NBA Draft history, giving him the nickname "Joe Barely Cares" for his perceived indifference to the game. A great deal of Carroll's negative press, however, can reasonably be attributed by the fact that he often declined interviews and the fact that the Warriors traded Robert Parish and the draft choice used to select Kevin McHale to the Boston Celtics for the first overall picked used to select Carroll.
During his first few seasons however, Carroll was actually a very productive player. He averaged 18.9 points and 9.3 rebounds as a rookie and two seasons later averaged a career high 24.1 points to go along with 8.7 rebounds. Carroll raised some eyebrows for leaving the Warriors in 1984 to play in Italy for Simac Milano (he won the Italian league), but he returned to the team in 1985 and averaged 21.2 points for two consecutive seasons.
Carroll represented the Warriors in the 1987 NBA All-Star Game, but after the 1986-87 season his production began to decline, and in December 1987 he was traded with Sleepy Floyd to the Houston Rockets for Ralph Sampson and Steve Harris. Carroll averaged just 12.7 points during that season, and after stints with the New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, and Phoenix Suns, he retired from the NBA in 1991. He ended his career with totals of 12,455 points and 5,404 rebounds, 4 times topping 20 ppg in scoring.
Carroll is currently an investor and businessman living outside of Atlanta, Georgia on his family ranch.
See also[]
- List of college men's basketball players with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds