NEW YORK – Hall of Famer Willis Reed, the beloved former New York Knicks participant who received two championships, has died on the age of 80, the National Basketball Retired Players Association mentioned on Tuesday.
The seven-time All-Star spent his decade-long profession with the Knicks, the place he famously took the court docket in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals towards the Los Angeles Lakers regardless of struggling a leg harm earlier.
He barely performed however the heroic effort whipped the group at Madison Square Garden right into a frenzy, as he impressed his workforce mates to a 113-99 victory and vaulted himself into the pantheon of New York City sports activities greats.
“As we mourn, we will always strive to uphold the standards he left behind,” the Knicks mentioned in an announcement. “The unmatched leadership, sacrifice and work ethic that personified him as a champion among champions.
“His is a legacy that can dwell perpetually.”
Reed became the first to earn regular-season MVP, Finals MVP and All-Star MVP honors in one season in 1970, before leading the Knicks to their second championship in 1973.
Beloved by fans and known affectionately as “the Captain”, he retired in 1974, having averaged 18.7 points and 12.9 rebounds per game, and was the first player for the Knicks to have his jersey retired by the team.
“My earliest and fondest reminiscences of NBA basketball are of watching Willis, who embodied the profitable spirit that outlined the New York Knicks’ championship groups within the early Nineteen Seventies,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
“He performed the sport with exceptional ardour and dedication, and his inspiring comeback in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals stays one of the crucial iconic moments in all of sports activities.”
Reed returned to the Knicks to teach the workforce within the 1977-78 season. He later coached the then-New Jersey Nets. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
