:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72101304/456740342.0.jpg)
Some very sad news for the New York Knicks, the NBA and basketball fans around the world as Willis Reed, still the heart of the franchise, has passed away.
Reed was a big man by the standards of that day, was 6-10 and 235, which would make him a power forward today - maybe - but he had to battle Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Lanier and Dave Cowens, among others.
Then again, Reed was a profoundly tough player. Born in segregated north central Louisiana in 1942, Reed had to be tough. If you’ve ever read any of Bill Russell’s comments about his family’s experiences in Louisiana (they moved to California when young Bill was eight years old), you’ll have some idea of the world Reed faced.
His peak of toughness though came in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Reed had torn a muscle in his thigh and was not expected to play. The moment when he came out anyway is one of the most iconic moments in New Yorks sports history, right up there with Babe Ruth’s called shot and Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech.
The man could barely walk and came out to take on the greatest talent of all time in Wilt Chamberlain. After he hit his first two shots, the game was over. The emotions in the Garden were off the charts. There was no way the Knicks were going to lose, and they didn’t.
He will remain the face of the Knicks in the way that Magic Johnson is the face of the Lakers and Michael Jordan is the face of the Bulls.
Willis Reed, dead at 80.
- Labor of love Willis Reed loved everything about being Knicks’ forever Captain
- Willis Reed, legendary Knicks Hall of Famer, dead at 80
- The Willis Reed Game: Revisiting Knicks’ legendary title 50 years later
- Fellow Knicks legend mourns loss of Willis Reed
- Mike Vaccaro: The inside story behind iconic Willis Reed photo
- Willis Reed, Hall of Fame Center for Champion Knicks, Dies at 80
- J.B. Bickerstaff on Willis Reed: He ‘was more concerned about the greater good than he was with himself’
- Willis Reed, two-time Knicks champion and NBA Hall of Famer, dead at 80
Marv Albert remembers Willis Reed as ‘heart and soul’ of the Knicks: ‘He was literally The Captain’
Loading comments...