To hear the author of the greatest underdog story in NBA history talk about the reasons for the Dallas Mavericks’ upset of the Miami Heat is to realize pro basketball needs Rick Barry back sitting court-side, spilling incisive commentary faster than defenders fell in front of him on his drives to pull-up jumpers.

“The guy I’d like to get my hands on is LeBron James,” Barry said in a telephone interview from his Colorado Springs home. “This guy should be such a freaking monster. What he did in the playoffs, I felt sorry for him. There are so many fundamental things he should have been taught. He’s really been short-changed.”

Such as?

“He doesn’t know how to use screens,” Barry said. “He has a major flaw in his shot. He doesn’t know how to use his first dribble as an attacking move. I could turn him into a beast. He’s one of the most gifted guys ever when you look at his power, strength, court sense. My God, it breaks my heart to have to watch him. He should be doing so much more, and he’s still pretty unbelievable.”

It’s not as if Barry doesn’t bring credibility. He’s the only player to execute the triple feat of leading the NCAA, ABA and NBA in scoring. He led a Golden State Warriors team most predicted wouldn’t make the playoffs to the 1975 NBA title with a four-game sweep of the Washington Bullets.

Jamaal Wilkes and rookie Phil Smith were his most talented teammates, and still Barry helped the Warriors sweep a team that featured Hall of Famers Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld by averaging 29.5 points and shooting .938 from the line. In the ’67 finals, when the Warriors lost in six games to Wilt Chamberlain’s Philadelphia 76ers, Barry averaged 40.8 points.

He didn’t have any trouble pinpointing what he had that LeBron needs.

“I had confidence in myself,” Barry said. “LeBron doesn’t have confidence. There is no problem being a facilitator, but you need to be doing it in an aggressive mode. He was doing it in a passive mode.”

Not that it was all LeBron’s fault.

“(Heat coach) Erik Spoelstra has to take some of the blame as well,” Barry said. “That 15-point comeback was insane, ridiculous. He had to use all his timeouts. You can’t allow that to happen. And you come out of a timeout and the shot you get is from five feet behind the three-point line? Are you kidding me? That’s embarrassing. Great series, my butt! Miami let them off the hook.”

By doing more than taking dumb shots.

“Dirk (Nowitzki) goes in and gets the winning layup,” Barry lamented. “What the hell happened to team defense? The No. 1 rule is never let the ball get to the basket. Dirk got to the basket from 20 feet, and nobody came over to shut him down. The first time, unfortunately, it was LeBron’s fault. Yes, Miami’s offense was horrible, but it was defense that killed them.”

Somebody give this man a microphone, which he knows how to use.

“You have to recognize things instantaneously and put things into words that are understandable for the average fan and don’t insult the intelligence of the sophisticated viewer,” he said, capturing what made him a great basketball commentator.