Perspective: NBA great who died at age 80 this week was a hero in New York. When I heard Tuesday that Willis Reed had died at the age of 80, I felt literal chills of sadness. He was Willis or, more frequently, “The Captain.”
I grew up with the New York Knicks and with Reed. In 1964, the team finished 22-58, the worst record in the nine-team NBA, just as I was becoming aware of basketball. With the first pick in that year’s draft, they took Jim Barnes out of Texas Western. In the second round, they took Reed a center out of Grambling.
The 1969-70 season was dreamlike. The Knicks had lost to the Celtics the previous season in the Eastern Conference finals, and Bill Russell had finally retired. Under coach Red Holzman, the Knicks had become famous for their defense — the first chants of “dee-fense” were in the Garden for those Knicks.The Knicks took control of the East early with an 18-game winning streak — breaking a record of 17 held by Russell’s Celtics — and ended up 60-22.
And, finally, the Lakers, with Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. The Knicks won Game 3 in Los Angeles in overtime and then lost Game 4 out there — also in overtime. Early in Game 5, Willis suffered a deep thigh bruise and couldn’t return. Somehow, a combination of Nate Bowman, DeBusschere, Cazzie Russell and Dave Stallworth kept Chamberlain from running amok, and the Knicks won. But with Willis out for Game 6, Chamberlain did run wild: 45 points and 27 rebounds in a Lakers rout.
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