THE NEW YORK KNICKS WITH WILLIS REED, WALT FRAZIER AND PHIL JACKSON THEN AND NOW

BASKETBALL TRIUMPHS AND HEARTBREAKS

“If you meet the Buddha in the lane, feed him the ball.”  -Phil Jackson

INTRODUCTION

Phil Jackson, Zen master and now the New York Knicks President, won 11 NBA titles as a coach and two more as a 1970’s Knicks reserve player, a record. He is now trying to bring the Triangle Offense, for which he is famous, to the current Knicks. Time will tell if it works. Meanwhile, Knicks’ fans have suffered for years and haven’t had a championship for 42 years. Let’s look back at the glory years of the early 1970’s.

THE CAPTAIN

The NBA of the early 1970’s was intensely competitive with New York, Boston, Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Los Angeles legitimate contenders for the title. With Captain Willis Reed at center, plus Walt Frazier, Dick Barnett, Dave DeBusschere, and Bill Bradley, the New York Knickerbockers were the best-balanced, least-selfish, and smartest team in the NBA.

Knicks' forward Bill Bradley was a three-time all-American at Princeton, the 1965 NCAA Tournament MVP, a Rhodes scholar at Oxford, and a member of the 1964 U.S. Olympic Gold Medal team. In a kidding reference to his huge signing bonus with the Knicks, Bradley was nicknamed “Dollar Bill” by teammate Cazzie Russell. Following a ten-year career and two NBA championships, Bill Bradley became a two-term U.S. Senator from New Jersey.¹

Dave DeBusschere was a rugged rebounder, defensive stopper, inside-and-outside scorer, and leader. Before coming to the New York Knicks and winning NBA championships in 1970 and 1973, he was a Detroit Pistons’ player/coach at age 24. A talented and versatile athlete, DeBusschere also pitched for the Chicago White Sox.²

In 1970, the Knicks finished first in the East. And despite the extrasensory shooting of Earl “The Pearl” Monroe in the opening playoff round, they beat Baltimore in seven games. It was thought when he came to the Knicks in 1971 that a backcourt of Monroe and Walt Frazier would need two basketballs, but they combined fluidly and won the 1973 NBA title.

In addition to “The Pearl,” “Downtown” Freddie Brown, World B. Free, and Wayne “Tree” Rollins are other retainable NBA names. (Rollins bit Danny Ainge’s finger during a 1983 Atlanta-Boston, playoff-game scrum. The next day’s headline: “Tree Bites Man.”)

THE KNICKS continued through the 1970 playoffs by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks, led by Lew Alcindor (who later took the name, Kareem Abdul Jabar), in five games. In the finals, New York met the loaded Los Angeles Lakers and their two basket-filling superstars, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West.

The Lakers and Knicks split the first four games, with games three and four decided in overtime.³ (Game three went past regulation thanks to Jerry West’s fantastical 50-foot heave with the ball swishing as the buzzer went off.) The Knicks won game five to go up 3-2, but Willis Reed’s leg was injured, and he appeared to be out of the series. The Lakers easily won game six to force a seventh game, and the Knicks’ prospects looked dim. 

The moment remains a basketball classic that electrified the Madison Square Garden crowd: Willis Reed hobbled through the tunnel and limped onto the floor just before game time. The fans went berserk when Reed won the tip against Wilt Chamberlain and then hit the first two baskets of the game. These were his only points in 27 meaningful minutes, but it was all the Knicks needed as spectator din, early momentum, relentless team defense, and Walt (Clyde) Frazier’s matchless all-around game squelched the Lakers and made Willis Reed a legend.⁴ 

Upon his retirement in 1974, Willis Reed was the only player in NBA history to win the regular season MVP, All-Star Game MVP, and Finals MVP in the same year (1970). Reed compiled stellar statistics, but it was the left-hander’s winning attitude, determination, desire, and leadership that inspired teammates. For years, Reed banged in the post against NBA stalwarts Wilt Chamberlain, Wes Unseld, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul Jabar, and it gradually took its toll. Tendonitis in Reed's knees obliterated his 1971 and 1972 seasons, but his unrelenting will and spirit enabled him to overcome the frustration and anguish and return in 1973 when Reed contributed athletically and spiritually to another New York Knickerbocker NBA title.⁵ And it wasn’t easy: The Knicks had to upset the Celtics (who had a towering 68-14 regular-season record) 4-3 in the Eastern Conference finals before whipping the Lakers 4-1 in the championship round.

ALL-PRO GUARD Walt Frazier may have had the quickest hands in NBA history. Someone once said that he could pick fruit off a tree in a hurricane, or the hubcaps off a moving car. Frazier was also the coolest player on the floor. His face was a mask, and he displayed no emotional body language. Frazier rarely looked at an opposing player or a ref; it was like they were unworthy of his attention. It was also a useful form of intimidation and a way to maintain intense concentration. The future Hall-of-Famer was the focal point of New York's offensive and defensive schemes and the cornerstone of Knick teams for a decade.⁶

With his Rolls Royce automobile and famboyant wardrobe that featured knee-length fur coatsand stylish hats, Walt Frazier was the toast of New York City as a member of the Knicks from 1967 to 1977. On the court, Frazier’s serene, above-the-fray demeanor, plus his lifestyle earned him the nickname "Clyde,” named after the stylish-dressing Warren Beatty playing gangster Clyde Barrow in the hit film Bonnie and Clyde.

I was having a hamburger for lunch at P.J. Clarke’s in 1970’s New York when Walt Frazier walked in, once again the coolest man in the room. The short-order cook at the hamburger counter gulped out a “Hello, Walt,” and the “Walt” sounded like the awestruck man had swallowed a frog. Frazier acknowledged the greeting without expression and a barely perceptible nod of his fedora. All eyes in the uncharacteristically hushed bar were on Clyde as he ordered a burger, and then they watched each bite. He ended up in the hospital that night with stomach troubles. I don’t know where the discomfort came from, but since I felt fine it must not have been the meat.

This story was excerpted from Guts in the Clutch:77 Legendary Triumphs, Heartbreaks 
and Wild Finishes in 12 Sports, with a Foreword by Drew Olson of ESPN.
http://amzn.to/19QmSVH

SOURCES:

THE CAPTAIN

 1 Courtesy of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame,    http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/bhof-bill-bradley.html, available as of 4/4/04

 2 Courtesy of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/bhof-dave-debusschere.html   

 3  HOF, available as of 4/4/04

 4   Courtesy of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/Reed.htm, available as of 4/15/05

 5  Basketball Hall of Fame, Reed, available as of 5/12/05

 6  Courtesy of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame,

      http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/bhof-walt-frazier.html,

      available as of 8/8/07