Posted on 03/21/2023 1:20:24 PM PDT by dfwgator
Willis Reed, the heart and soul of the Knicks’ most recent NBA championship teams, and the man who gave New York City sports one of its most iconic moments, died Tuesday, The Post has confirmed. He was 80.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Young person, eh ? ;)
I remember all we got for the Fight of the Century was a sportscaster's summary of the round after it was fought and the AP's scorecard. My brother and I listened enthusiastically to the first few rounds which Dad ignored but those roles reversed about round 9 when Frazier started kicking Ali's butt.
Great memories!
RIP 19
I never knew what he was talking about.
Prayers to his family...RIP, Mr. Reed!!
What’s Phil Linz’s?
December 1968, during Christmas break, just after the All Star Game, I and some friends were shooting hoops in the gym at St. Johns University in Queens. There were a couple of black guys shooting at the other end of the gym, and I suggested we ask them to join us. Somebody said “Those guys are Knicks.” They look different from below.
Then some guy came and cleared us off the gym floor. The Knicks were using the gym to practice, so we went in the stands to watch. I recall Dick Barnett making a buzzer noise as he took a jump shot and yelled “END”, and when the shot clanged off the rim and missed, he finished his sentence, “OF THE FIRST QUARTER!”.
Willis Reed, who had been MVP of the All Star Game, did not joint the practice. Although in uniform, he stood next to Knicks Coach Nate Holzman the whole time, spinning a basket ball in his hands. The season before, was the last season the Knicks played in the “old” Madison Square Garden on 50th Street and 8th Avenue (old in quotes because the original MSG was a garden and was on Madison Square, and was opened by P.T. Barnum around 1865). Me, and a bunch of the boys attended the last game, on our GO (General Organization) cards for 50 cents. The Knights of Columbus owned MSG, and Catholic High School kids were issued GO cards which entitled you to general admission for 50 cents. The Knicks, who were a dismal lower division team and out of the play offs, were playing the Lakers, also their last game of the regular season, though I believe they lost to Celtics in the finals that year. Anyway, the Lakers routed the Knicks, but Willis Reed broke Jerry West’s nose. West left the game, but not the bench. He sat on the bench the rest of the game holding a bloody towel against his bloody nose. He was not happy.
The game was poorly attended, and we snuck down to ground floor seats a few rows from the court, and had a great view of the spectacle. We didn’t even have to bribe the usher, who sort of despaired of getting a couple bucks from these punks.
What great memories.
Frazier is 77 and still going strong doing the Knicks broadcasts. They just had a championship reunion and Willis Reed wasn’t there. We know why now. RIP.
RIP Willis Reed. A gutsy player and leader of some great Knicks teams.
Odd that they phrase it that way... as the most recent is 1973. Maybe they didn't want to say last?
3 pointers are stupid...Most players today are shooting - and most are not being made - 3 pointers. If I was a basketball coach, I will not teach my players to shoot 3s!!
So is Joe Montana...
Earl started out with the then Baltimore Bullets but went to the Knicks for the 1971 - 1972 season and on.
Earl is still alive and kicking BTW.
One of the great ones playing for one of the all-time great teams. The 70s Knicks.
I get so sick of the racist crap that goes around. You know what I mean? It’s like, when I was a kid in the 70s, all my friends (white) wanted to be either Willis Reed or Walt “Clyde” Frazier or Earl the Pearl Monroe, etc. We didn’t see these players as black; no sir, we saw them as great basketball players.
College coaches of weaker teams figured out a long time ago that the 3-pointer was a great equalizer - if my team makes a three every time down the floor, and your bigs only score two on your trips, who wins the game?
So of course that percolated up to the pro game as well. To the detriment of both games IMHO.
Earl wanted out of Baltimore, which was a small-market NBA town even in the late 1960s and 1970s (witness Abe Pollin moving the team to the DC area a short while later). He wanted to play under the brighter lights of New York or LA.
Thanks for your replies :)
When I heard that he died, I wondered how many sports figures are best remembered for one moment that was bigger than, or at least not just about, in-game performance. Reed will always be remembered for 1970 game 7, but not because he dominated the game - he only scored the two baskets.
Another one I thought of was Rick Monday. A really good player, but he will always be remembered for saving the flag from those b*st*rds trying to burn it at Dodger Stadium in 1976.
Damn one of my favorite players from back in the days when they actually played basketball without showboating for the girls and the swishy white boyz.
Anybody can be a good three point shooter with enough practice.
Try threading a pass inside for an easy layup.
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