We Lost A Giant
Willis Reed has passed away.
RIP, Willis Reed - 1942-2023
Willis Reed - two-time NBA champion, member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, one of the 75 greatest players ever, and the only man to win MVP or Finals MVP for the New York Knicks - passed away yesterday morning at the age of 80. According to Peter Vecsey, he had been suffering from congestive heart problems and was rehabbing.
I’m frankly not sure where to begin here, if only because my relationship to Reed began long after he had already cemented himself as a real life superhero for many of you reading this. Not only was I not around for Willis the player, but I missed out completely on Willis the coach, who helmed the Knicks for a little more than a season in the late 70’s, and later for the Nets in the late 80’s. My first memory of him, ironically, was as New Jersey’s general manager in the mid-90’s. I remember watching a game between the cross-state rivals on television, and the camera spent a few seconds focused on Reed in a front office suite. Someone told me soon after that he was one of the greatest players in franchise history, and I distinctly recall thinking how odd it was that a great Knick was now running the lousy Nets.
Not long after, as I began to get more into the NBA by way of its vast historical database of statistics, I looked at Reed’s career numbers and wondered why he was considered in such high regard. He never even averaged 22 points in an era that saw Wilt, Oscar and Kareem put up video game numbers that seemingly put Reed to shame. How could Willis, who was scoring like a role player by the end of his short, 10-year career, be viewed as a peer to those other all-time greats?
Eventually, I was able to remove my teenage head from my teenage ass and start to listen to how people spoke about Reed. Like, really listen. To the reverence in their voice. The way they wished they could make people like me understand how this giant among men was not built like the mere mortals he shared the court with. That his will to win was his superpower, as if being 6'10" and 235 wasn’t enough.
I started to pay attention to Clyde Frazier, Reed’s teammate on those title teams, when he spoke of Willis as the greatest Knick of all time even as Patrick Ewing was lapping him by every relevant statistical measure. I watched the video of Chamberlain’s face when Reed emerged from that tunnel - Goliath suddenly turning into David as he realized what awaited him. As many have said, Game 7 was over before the ball was ever tipped at center court.
Most of all, I started to read up on those title teams, and how when they were whole - i.e., when Willis suited up - they not only did not lose, but broke the spirit of opposing teams by playing basketball at a level not previously seen.
Reed appeared in eight playoff series between 1970 and 1973, winning seven. He missed all of the ‘72 playoff with the knee injury that derailed his career, and lost in seven to the Bullets in seven games in 1971. The other two ended in parades.
And that might not even be the most impressive part of Reed’s resume. When he came to the Knicks, they were mired in a stretch of losing that would make the Isaiah Thomas years look like the 60’s in Boston. In the five years prior to his arrival, New York lost more than two games for every one win, going 120-274 and failing to win 30 games a single time.
Things started to change when the man from Grambling strode in, winning Rookie of the Year over Luke Jackson and the player the Knicks took first overall ahead of him the previous summer, Jim Barnes. To this day, Reed remains the greatest second round pick in NBA history.
From there, it was a slow and steady climb, from 30 wins to 36 to 43, and then finally 54 in the 1968-69 season. Willis would lead them to the conference finals that year, and at least that deep into the playoffs every season thereafter until he retired - six appearances in total. They’ve been back four times in the half century since.
That level of winning, and the ability to resurrect a moribund franchise, was only half the story though. At his best, Reed is the greatest to ever put on a Knick uniform, and it may not be particularly close.
In 1970, 10 players besides Reed who eventually made the NBA’s 75th anniversary team were in or close enough to their primes to receive votes for Most Valuable Player. Guys like West, Kareem, Havlicek, Unseld, and Reed’s own teammate, Clyde. Reed bested them all for the award.
And to think about the men he played against, night in and night out. There was a 26-year stretch in the NBA in which a center won the NBA’s MVP award all but twice, with Oscar Robertson in 1964 and Julius Erving in 1981 being the lone exceptions. Reed faced off against five of the winners in that span - Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Unseld and Cowens, not to mention other legendary big men like Nate Thurman, Elvin Hayes, and his former teammate, Walt Bellamy.
In his march to the 1970 title alone, Reed had to defeat former or future MVP’s Unseld, Kareem and Wilt in succession to win the championship. After he did, his coach, Red Holzman, had this to say about his effort in the legendary Game 7:
“He gave us a tremendous lift, just going out there. He couldn’t play his normal game, but he did a lot of things out there and he means a lot to the spirit of the other players.”
Wrote Leonard Koppett of the New York Times the next day, “Reed, as always, was an indispensable element.” One day later, in their season recap, he added that Reed was “the captain of the team and considered the indispensable man to a squad known for its superb teamwork.” Three years later, after their second title, the headline read: New York Triumphs in Five Games for 2d Crown in 3 Years - Reed is Star.
Indeed he was.
Scoff if you want at the NBA being a 12 and then a 14 team league back in those days. The flip side of that coin is that during eras like this, every night was a battle with a different Hall of Famer, at least if you manned the middle. And did he ever man it. Reed still holds five of the top 10 rebounding seasons in team history. If advanced stats are more your thing, he holds the third and fourth best Win Share seasons by a Knick, trailing only his starting point guard.
I’ll end here: throughout last season, I foolishly attempted to rank the top 75 players in Knicks history, knowing all the while who the final three would be. When I got there, I hemmed and hawed but ultimately put Reed third, behind Frazier and Ewing. In doing so, I argued that outside of Boston and LA, he is the greatest “third best” player in the history of any NBA franchise. For many, that level of praise wasn’t nearly enough.
I lost count of the number of emails and comments I received from fans who were old enough to see Reed play live, almost all of whom argued that he deserved to be No. 1 on the list. Each one was impassioned in its own way, but they all shared a similar sentiment that went something like this: you make a great case for Ewing, and Frazier is equally worthy, but for reasons I can’t quite fully explain in words, the clear choice is Reed.
It became obvious to me then that there was no stat or accolade or book or video clip that would make me truly understand Reed’s greatness - how a generation of fans revered him in a way that few New York athletes have ever been idolized before. The only comparison I can make is when my dad used to talk about Mickey Mantle. A god amongst men.
That was Willis. And now, the man who was always too much for mere mortals to handle is where he’s supposed to be.
Rest in Peace, Cap.
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🏙 Game Night 🏙
Who: Heat
Where: Miami
When: 7:30 pm
TV: MSG
Personal Injury Report presented by Weiss & Rosenbloom: Everyone is good to go for New York; Kyle Lowry an Caleb Martin are questionable for Miami
Halftime: Click here to enter.
High Stakes: In short, if New York wins, the magic number to finish ahead of the Heat (and, barring an undefeated finish by the Hawks, to make the top six) is three. If they lose, the rest of the season becomes a lot more interesting.
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That’s it for today! If you enjoy this newsletter and like the Mets, don’t forget to subscribe to JB’s Metropolitan, or his hockey newsletter, Isles Fix. See y’all soon! #BlackLivesMatter
As a 54-year old (born in 1968), I consider my age bracket to be the longest suffering of Knicks fans. I’m too young to remember the championships and my fandom started by watching the Michael Ray Richardson-Ray Williams backcourt on Channel 9 in the late ‘70’s. It’s since been a sports-fan lifetime of hoping to see the Knicks regain that glory. Thanks for capturing the reverence we feel for Willis and what he represents. RIP, Captain.
Well said, Jon.
Listen to Wilt talk about his toughest opponents and he usually says Russell and Reed. Listen to Reed's teammates or read their books- everyone knew who it all hinged on.
I am sure I wasn't the only senior citizen Knick fan who shed a tear yesterday.