MAN DEFINED BY A MOMENT
Gutsy return for 1970 finale cemented center’s status as the very picture of determination
NEW YORK — Willis Reed, who dramatically emerged from the locker room minutes before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to spark the Knicks to their first championship and create one of sports’ most enduring examples of playing through pain, died Tuesday. He was 80.
Reed’s death was announced by the National Basketball Retired Players Association, which confirmed it through his family. The cause was not released, but Reed had been in poor health recently and was unable to travel to New York when the Knicks celebrated the 50th anniversary of their 1973 NBA championship team during a game against the Pelicans on Feb. 25.
The Knicks tweeted a photo of Reed from behind, walking onto the floor as his teammates warm up for the 1970 finale. It was one of the most memorable moments in NBA and Madison Square Garden history.
“As we mourn, we will always strive to uphold the standards he left behind — the unmatched leadership, sacrifice and work ethic that personified him as a champion among champions,” the team said. “His is a legacy that will live forever.”
Nicknamed “The Captain,” Reed was the undersized center and emotional leader on the Knicks’ two NBA championship teams, with a soft shooting touch from the outside and a toughness to tussle with the era’s superstar big men on the inside.
He was remembered Tuesday perhaps more for the manner in which he led the Knicks than for how superbly he played.
“Willis Reed was the ultimate team player and consummate leader,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. “My earliest and fondest memories of NBA basketball are of watching Willis, who embodied the winning spirit that defined the New York Knicks’ championship teams in the early 1970s. He played the game with remarkable passion and determination.”
Reed’s accomplishments — seven AllStar nods and two NBA Finals MVP Awards among them — would have warranted Hall of Fame induction by themselves. During the 1969-70 season, he became the first player to sweep the MVP awards for the regular season, All-Star Game and NBA Finals.
But his spot in history was secured simply by walking onto the floor on the final night of that season.
Reed had injured a thigh muscle in Game 5, tumbling to the court in pain. He sat out Game 6 as Lakers counterpart Wilt Chamberlain finished with 45 points and 27 rebounds in a romp that forced a deciding game at the Garden.
Reed’s status was unknown even to his teammates as he continued getting treatment until shortly before Game 7. Both teams were warming up when he came out of the tunnel, fans rising and roaring when they saw him emerge.
“And here comes Willis and the crowd is going wild,” radio announcer Marv Albert said.
Reed made two quick jump shots in the early minutes of the game, running back down the court after each with a noticeable limp. He wouldn’t score again, but the Knicks didn’t need it, with their captain’s return and Walt Frazier’s 36 points and 19 assists energizing them to a 113-99 win.
Reed would play only 19 games in 197374 before retiring because of a knee injury after just 10 seasons. That was long enough to collect more than 12,000 points and 8,400 rebounds; both still rank in the top three on the Knicks’ career lists.
He had a successful post-playing career as a coach and executive. Doc Rivers, the 76ers’ coach, recalled playing for the Hawks when Reed was an assistant coach.
“He was simply a great person, A man!!! A leader!!! A Winner!!!” Rivers tweeted Tuesday.