New York Knicks legend Willis Reed is most famous for courageously taking the court in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals despite a very serious leg injury, and scoring the first two baskets.
However, there was much more to him than that.
At 6-10 and 240, by the standards of his day, he was a big, powerful center. And to be clear, he was a big, powerful center.
In 1970, the Finals went to seven games, but Reed battled Wilt Chamberlain on relatively even terms until his injury.
In this video, from Game 4, you
can get a sense of his toughness.
Like Bill Russell, Reed was born in Louisiana, about 35 miles away from Russell’s hometown. And like Russell, he grew up in a racist environment that forced him to learn to be relentlessly tough.
He was always a tier below Chamberlain, Russell, Nate Thurmond and, later, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talent-wise, but his will and his desire made him the equal of all of them. He remains the archetypal Knick to this day, largely because of games like this.
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