Legends profile: Willis Reed

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Few baskets in NBA history have been as legendary as the two scored by Willis Reed in the initial minutes of Game 7 of the 1970 Finals. Even though they only added four points to the scoreboard, these baskets were equivalent to a million sources of inspiration for the New York Knicks.

Before Game 7 on May 8, 1970, at 7:30 p.m., Reed, who was the captain and key player of the highly skilled New York Knicks, seemed to be out of play due to an injury that jeopardized his team’s possibility of winning the championship. However, just fifteen minutes later, he made a legendary comeback, propelling the Knicks towards their first ever title.

In the initial four games of The Finals versus the powerful Los Angeles Lakers, Reed delivered scores of 37, 29, 38, and 23 points in that order, while maintaining an average of 15 rebounds. However, in the fourth quarter of the 5th game, he suffered a severe thigh injury. Despite this setback, the Knicks managed to pull through that match, but they were decimated by the Lakers in the 6th game.

The series was tied at three games apiece entering the decisive contest at Madison Square Garden. New York’s Bill Bradley recalled Game 7 in an article in The New York Times: “We left the locker room for the warmups not knowing if Willis was going to come out or not.”

Reed hobbled onto the court at 7:34 p.m., sparking a frenzy among the crowd and reigniting his teammates’ confidence. Remarkably, he out-leapt Wilt Chamberlain during the opening tip and proceeded to score the game’s initial basket from the top of the key. He followed it up with a second 20-foot basket. Reed didn’t score after that, but he didn’t need to. His presence alone had inspired the Knicks to take control. They led by up to 29 points in the first half and ultimately triumphed with a 113-99 victory.

Reed was the core and driving force behind the Knicks’ championship victories in 1970 and 1973.

The former Grambling Tiger, standing at 6-foot-9½ and weighing 240 pounds, had a 10-season stint in New York and made appearances in seven All-Star Games. His accolades include winning the Rookie of the Year in the 1964-65 season and being named MVP in the 1969-70 season. During both the years that the Knicks were champions, he was chosen as the Finals MVP.

Reed was born on June 25, 1942, in Hico, La., a place so tiny that he once told Pro Basketball Illustrated, “They don’t even have a population.” While Reed was growing up on a farm in nearby Bernice, the Knicks were floundering. New York managed only one winning season in the 12 campaigns between 1955-56 and 1966-67. From 1956 to 1966 the Knicks finished last nine times, and the club failed to make the playoffs in the seven seasons from 1959 to 1966. In 1963-64 the Knicks brought up the rear of the Eastern Division with a 22-58 record.

Reed accumulated 2,280 career points at Grambling, averaging 26.6 points and 21.3 rebounds in his senior year. He guided the school to one NAIA championship and three Southwestern Athletic Conference titles. The Knicks selected him in the second round of the 1964 Draft, and he signed with the team for approximately $10,000.

Reed instantly made a mark. He scored 46 points against Los Angeles in March 1965, the second-highest single-game total by a Knicks rookie. Throughout the season, he was the NBA’s seventh highest scorer (19.5 ppg) and fifth highest rebounder (14.7 rpg). He started his streak of All-Star appearances and was the first Knicks player to receive the Rookie of the Year title.

Throughout his career, Reed demonstrated his ability to perform under pressure in the playoffs. An early example of this was in the 1966-67 season, when he surpassed his regular-season average of 20.9 points per game, scoring an impressive 27.5 points per game in the postseason.

The team persisted in facing challenges for several years, though they were acquiring quality players through trades and the draft. The key staffing change was probably replacing Dick McGuire with William “Red” Holzman as coach halfway through the 1967-68 season. The Knicks had a 15-22 record under McGuire’s leadership, but with Holzman at the helm, they finished 28-17. New York’s 43-39 record under Holzman gave the Knicks their first winning season since 1958-59.

Reed consistently participated in the All-Star Game each year. He transitioned from playing center to power forward to accommodate Walt Bellamy. Despite this change, Reed maintained his high performance on the boards, averaging 11.6 rebounds in the 1965-66 season and 14.6 in the 1966-67 season, both of which were top 10 scores in the league. By the end of the latter season, Reed had fully adapted to his new role, averaging 20.9 points and ranking eighth in the NBA.

After a shaky start of 6-10 in 1968-69, New York managed to secure victories in 54 games. On December 19, the Knicks made a trade deal with the Detroit Pistons, sending Bellamy and Howard Komives in exchange for Dave DeBusschere. This proved beneficial for Reed in two ways. DeBusschere, a legitimate forward, took over some of the strenuous work inside, thereby relieving Reed of some pressure. Moreover, this allowed Reed to return to his preferred and more effective pivot position. Reed expressed his satisfaction with the arrangement, stating, “Since that trade, I feel like a new person. Center is my position.”

The day following the trade, it was clear which team had benefited most from the exchange during a game. The Knicks thoroughly beat the Pistons with a score of 135-87, marking their biggest victory margin by 48 points. From December 17 to January 4, New York embarked on a successful 10-game winning streak. This was later followed by another 11-game winning streak from January 25 to February 15.

The Knicks emphasized defense in 1968-69, limiting their opponents to a league minimum of 105.2 points per game. Reed’s ability to block the center and Frazier’s ball pressure tactics made the Knicks the top defensive team in the league for five out of the following six seasons. In addition, Reed made an impressive score of 21.1 ppg and set a franchise record by grabbing 1,191 rebounds, averaging 14.5 rpg in 1968-69.

The Knicks had an extraordinary start in the 1969-70 season, with 14 wins and just one loss, and went on to secure 60 regular-season victories, a first in the history of the franchise. These victories included an unprecedented streak of 18 consecutive wins. Reed, who was awarded the MVP at the All-Star Game in 1970, averaged his career-best 21.7 points for that season. However, his most notable statistical feature was his consistency, as evidenced by his average scores of 20.9, 20.8, 21.1, 21.7, and 20.9 points per game from the 1966-67 season to the 1970-71 season, respectively.

In the 1970 playoffs, the New York Knicks triumphed over the Baltimore Bullets in seven games and dispatched the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. Their victories set the stage for an exciting Finals face-off against a Los Angeles team spearheaded by Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Chamberlain. Both the third and fourth games required overtime, with each team securing a win. Reed, whose exceptional performance in the historic Game 7 guided the Knicks to the championship, clinched the regular season, All-Star, and Finals MVP awards. Both Reed and his teammate Frazier were picked for the All-NBA First Team. This was the first time Knicks players had achieved this accolade since Harry Gallatin in the 1953-54 season.

Reed, a left-handed player, posed a challenge for rival defenders. He had the strength and skill to play in the paint, but his gentle jump shot from as far as 15 feet was also lethal. Even without the ball, he was adept at creating screens to release his teammates, a crucial component of the Knicks’ continuous motion offense.

Teamwork was the signature of the Knicks, with every player understanding their specific role. Frazier was a dependable defender and playmaker, while DeBusschere stood out as a rebounder. Bradley was an intelligent and energetic runner, and Dick Barnett made his mark as a jump shooter. Reed, Frazier, DeBusschere, and Bradley were all eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame.

In the 1970-71 season, the Knicks fell to a 52-30 record, but still secured the top spot in the Atlantic Division. Reed matched Harry Gallatin’s all-time club record during this season, pulling down 33 rebounds in a game against the Cincinnati Royals. He once again started in the All-Star Game and averaged 20.9 points and 13.7 rebounds for the season. However, the team was knocked out in the Eastern Conference finals by Baltimore. During the 1971-72 season, Reed was hampered by tendinitis in his left knee, which curtailed his mobility. After missing two weeks at the start of the season, he returned to play, but his knee injury soon prevented him from participating further. He only managed to play 11 games that year.

In the 1972-73 season, the Knicks ended with a record of 57-25 and won another championship. Reed’s contribution was less than what it was two seasons earlier, averaging only 11.0 points in 69 regular-season games. The Knicks triumphed over Baltimore and the Boston Celtics in the playoffs and encountered the Lakers again in The Finals. Despite losing the first game, the Knicks seized the next four games, clinching their second championship with a 102-93 win in Game 5. Leading a well-rounded team, Reed was awarded the Finals MVP.

Before retiring in 1973-74, Reed participated in 19 games. During his decade-long association with the New York Knicks, he secured a position in the top 10 of almost every category. Notably, he was among the top three for minutes played (23,073), field goals made (4,859), rebounds (8,414), and total points (12,183). Reed made history in 1976 as the first Knicks player to have his jersey number retired.

Over the following years, the Knicks’ dynasty disbanded. Reed assumed the role of coach for the 1977-78 season, achieving a 43-39 record with the team. However, his tenure as coach was cut short, as he was dismissed just 14 games into the subsequent season.

Reed held the position of an assistant coach at St. John’s before advancing to the role of head coach at Creighton University, where he served from the 1981-82 season until the 1984-85 season. During his tenure at Creighton, he was honored with induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1981. Among the players he coached at Creighton was 7-foot Benoit Benjamin, who went on to play for multiple NBA teams. In 1993, Benjamin and Reed would cross paths again in the New Jersey Nets organization.

In 1985, Reed became an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks before taking up a similar position with the Sacramento Kings. He then took over from interim coach Bob MacKinnon of the New Jersey Nets on February 29, 1988. Despite a challenging season with the 1987-88 Nets team ending with a 19-63 record, Reed managed to lead the team to a 7-21 finish. The subsequent year saw an improvement as Reed coached the Nets to a 26-56 record before transitioning to a role in the front office.

Reed took on the role of general manager for the Nets in 1993 and had, by 1994, transformed the team into a consistent contender in the playoffs. The early 1990s Nets were defined by two franchise players, Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson, who were drafted by Reed. He also successfully managed to persuade Chuck Daly to coach the team for the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons. This resulted in the New Jersey team making three successive appearances in the playoffs by 1994, after a hiatus of four years. Reed’s role changed in 1996, when he became the Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations, but his objective remained the same – to make the Nets championship contenders.

Reed, after a tenure of over 15 years with the Nets, transitioned to the Knicks’ front office during the offseason preceding the 2003-04 season. This shift brought him back to the origins of his professional playing career.

The terms used to characterize Reed’s professional basketball career – endurance, pride, dignity, obligation, hard work and courage – might seem somewhat clichéd, but they’re fitting. For ten years, he demonstrated these traits consistently on the basketball court. However, they were most notably exhibited in the opening minutes of Game 7 of the 1970 Finals. Reflecting on that legendary night twenty years later, Reed said, “Not a day goes by without someone reminding me of that game.”