To Absent Friends - Willis Reed

Willis Reed

1942-2023

Famed New York Knicks center Willis Reed died this past week at the age of 80.  Reed had a ten year NBA career, all with the Knicks.  He was the undisputed leader and bulwark of the team in those years, and led the Knicks to NBA Championships in 1970 and 1973, the only titles in the franchise's history.  He was 6'10" out of Grambling University, and in his career, he was a seven time all-star, a five time All-NBA selection, a league MVP once, and a Finals MVP twice.

Like many of my age, I can remember the dramatic moment just prior to Game Seven of the 1970 NBA Finals against the Lakers.  Reed had been injured and it was uncertain if he would be able to play in that critical game.  Just as the line-ups were about to be introduced, Reed hobbled out of the locker room in his warm-up suit, and was announced as the starter.  It was an ovation that shook the Garden and produced an ovation unlike any seen in the World's Most Famous Arena before or since.  (In fact, in a poll taken upon the 50th Anniversary of the current Garden, the "Willis Reed Entrance" was voted the Most Famous Event in the history of the building.)    Reed took the Knicks first two shots of the game that night and made them both.  They were the only four points he had in that game, but, in retrospect, they set the stage for the game and, effectively, decided it.  What I didn't realize until I heard it this week was that in the three Playoffs Series that the Knicks won to achieve that Championship, Reed went up against and outplayed Wes Unseld of the Bullets, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Bucks, and Wilt Chamberlain the Lakers. I'm sure you've heard of those guys.  No wonder Reed is a hero in New York.

For all of that, I probably wasn't going to do an Absent Friends post on Reed until I listened to the Tony Kornheiser Show podcast from Wednesday, March 22.

A 22 year old Kornheiser was in attendance at the Garden for that Game Seven as a fan (long time listeners know that TK refers to the Knicks as "the team of my youth.").  This was well before he became a sportswriter.  On Wednesday's podcast Kornheiser gave THIS VERBAL TRIBUTE/EULOGY TO WILLIS REED, and it was simply terrific.  If you don't care to listen to the entire show from the link above, I will tell you that the segment on Reed begins at the 5:40 mark and runs to the 17:05 mark of the broadcast.   However you may feel about Kornheiser, he is a master craftsman when it comes to words and framing a story, and this segment is well worth eleven and a half minutes of your time.

RIP Willis Reed.