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Sports InsiderWillis Reed: A Giant Amongst Giants.
September 26th 2007 23:19
(Image from nba.com)
When we’re talking about NBA greats that don’t get enough recognition from modern day fans, Willis Reed would be one of those on top of the list. Continuing with our New York Knicks theme of recent days, Reed is arguably the greatest Knick of all-time.
Patrick Ewing may have been more talented but Willis was the ultimate Knick.
Date of Birth: 25 June, 1942.
Height: 6’10”
College: Grambling State
Draft: Drafted by the New York Knicks, 1964. (10th overall)
Points per Game: 18.7
Rebounds per Game: 12.9
Honours: Elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (1982); NBA champion (1970, '73); NBA MVP (1970); All-NBA First Team (1970); All-NBA Second Team (1967, '68, '69, '71); NBA All-Defensive Team (1970); Rookie of the Year (1965); One of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996).
Before Reed came onto the scene at Madison Square Garden, the New York franchise was woeful. Actually, the Knicks were an insult to the term ‘woeful’. They were something else that was unimaginable. New York only managed one winning season between 1955-56 to 1966-67, and for anyone counting that is 11 out of 12 seasons of ineptitude. And to really drive the point home of how, shall we say it? Turd-like the Knicks were, they finished last, nine times during the same 12 year period. Ugh.
In saying all of this, those Knicks teams probably would still lay a beat down on the current squad.
Gotham’s Batman would come to save the day via the 1964 Draft, where he would make an immediate impact from the very outset. Willis would score 46 points against the Los Angeles Lakers, the second highest point total in one game for a Knicks rookie. He would go on to finish as the seventh highest scorer in the league, fifth in rebounding, named to his first All-Star game, and become the first Knick named as rookie of the year. In a classic bit of understatement, not a bad season there.
Reed was not only big and strong, but he was a lefty that used his basketball skills to great effect. If you locked him down low, he’d take you outside with his sweet shooting touch. Or, he’d just bully you in the paint with his bulk and that would be all she wrote. Off the ball, he
(Image from nba.com)
Although, the Knicks were infinitely better with Reed on board, they continued to struggle, whilst making the necessary personnel changes to develop a winning unit. From top-to-bottom the organisation began to flush out the dead weight and adding winners.
New York’s savvy personnel moves culminated in the dramatic 1970 Final against the storied Los Angeles Lakers. The series that would immortalise Reed in the annals of legendary Finals performers.
It was the seventh and final game of the championship, and Willis Reed had not played in Game 6 after tearing his thigh muscle in the prior game. This enabled Wilt Chamberlain to go on a rampage, scoring 45 points and grabbing 27 rebounds!!! The series was now tied 3-3.
The prospects of Reed playing in this game were dim – the injury was bad and when his teammates were warming up, he wasn’t even courtside.
“I wanted to play," Reed recalls. "That was for the championship, the one great moment you play for all your life. I didn't want to have to look at myself in the mirror 20 years later and say I wished I had tried to play.” (NBA.com)
Willis would take a painkilling injection and moments before tip-off would limp through the tunnel where a delirious New York crowd began cheering him on, realising what was happening – the big fella was playing. The captain and leader was back, and the Lakers were shook: “I saw the whole Laker team standing around staring at this man," said Knicks guard Walt Frazier. "When I saw that, when they stopped warming up, something told me we might have these guys!” (NBA.com)
On the opening tip, Reed lined up against Chamberlain and scored the first two baskets for his team. Those would be his only points for the game but the inspiration his teammates drew from his efforts resulted in a comprehensive win and a championship. Willis would win the Finals MVP, capping off an extraordinary season where he also took out the regular season MVP and All-Star game MVP as well.
Today’s video is of Reed’s legendary 1970 Finals performance.
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