BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Willis Reed, Jr. born June 25, 1942 is a retired American basketball player, coach and general manager. He spent his entire professional playing career (1964–1974) with the New York Knicks. In 1982, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was voted one of the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History".
After retiring as a player, Reed served as assistant and head coach with several teams for nearly a decade, then was promoted to General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations (1989 to 1996) for the New Jersey Nets. As Senior Vice President of Basketball, he led them to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003.
Early life and education
Reed was born in 1942 in Hico, Louisiana and named after his father. He grew up on a farm in nearby Bernice. His parents worked to ensure Reed got an education in the segregated South. Reed showed athletic ability at an early age and played basketball at West Side High School in Lillie.
He attended Grambling State University, a historically black college. Reed amassed 2,280 career points, averaging 26.6 points and 21.3 rebounds during his senior year. He led the college to one NAIA title and three Southwestern Athletic Conference Championships. Reed also became a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.
Career
In 1964, Reed was drafted in the second round (eighth overall) by the Knicks, where he quickly made a name as a fierce, dominating and physical force on both ends of the floor. In March 1965, he scored 46 points against the Los Angeles Lakers, the second highest single-game total ever by a Knicks rookie. For the season, he ranked seventh in the NBA in scoring (19.5 points per game) and fifth in rebounding (14.7 rebounds per game). He also began his string of All-Star appearances and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year.
Reed proved to be a clutch playoff performer throughout his career. He gave an early indication of this in 1966–67 when he bettered his regular-season average of 20.9 points per game by scoring 27.5 points per contest in the postseason.
In his first seasons with the Knicks, he played power forward and later gained fame as the starting center. Despite his relatively average stature for a basketball player, he made up for his lack of height by playing a physical game, often ending seasons with respectable averages in blocking and rebounding. (He stood 6-foot-9 when contemporaries such as Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stood 7-1 and 7–2, respectively.)
The team continued to struggle for a few years while adding good players through trades and the draft. Dick McGuire was replaced as coach with Red Holzman, midway through the 1967–68 season. The Knicks had gone 15–22 under McGuire; Holzman steered them to a 28–17 finish. In 1968, New York's record was 43–39, its first winning record since 1958–59.
Reed continued to make annual appearances in the NBA All-Star Game. By this time, he was playing power forward, in order to make room for Walt Bellamy. Reed averaged 11.6 rebounds in 1965–66 and 14.6 in 1966–67, both top-10 marks in the league. By the latter season, he had adjusted to the nuances of his new position, averaging 20.9 points to rank eighth in the NBA.
New York won 54 games in 1968–69, after a 6–10 start. On December 19, the Knicks traded Bellamy and Howard Komives to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Dave DeBusschere. "Since that trade, I feel like a new person", Reed said at the time. "Center is my position."
In 1968–69, New York held opponents to a league-low 105.2 points per game. With Reed clogging the middle and Walt Frazier pressuring the ball, the Knicks would be the best defensive club in the league for five of the next six seasons.
Reed scored 21.1 points per game in 1968–69 and grabbed a franchise record 1,191 rebounds, an average of 14.5 rebounds per game.
First championship
In the 1969–70 season, the Knicks won a franchise record 60 games and set a then single-season NBA record with an 18 game win streak. In 1970, Reed became the first player in NBA history to be named the NBA All-Star Game MVP, the NBA regular season MVP, and the NBA Finals MVP in the same season. That same year, he was named to the All-NBA first team and NBA All-Defensive first team, as well as being named as ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year, and the Sporting News NBA MVP.
Reed's most famous performance took place on May 8, 1970, during Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers in Madison Square Garden. Due to a severe thigh injury, a torn muscle that had previously kept him out of Game 6, he was considered unlikely to play in Game 7. Yet Reed surprised the fans by walking onto the court during warmups, prompting widespread applause. Starting the game, he scored the Knicks' first two field goals on his first two shot attempts, his only points of the game. Walt "Clyde" Frazier went on to score 36 points with 18 assists as the Knicks won 113–99, giving New York City its first NBA title. The moment Reed walked onto the court was voted the greatest moment in the history of Madison Square Garden.
Second championship
The Knicks slipped to 52-30 in the 1970–71 season, still good enough for first place in the Atlantic Division; and in mid-season, Reed tied Harry Gallatin's all-time club record by hauling in 33 rebounds against the Cincinnati Royals. Once again, Reed started in the All-Star game. For the season, he averaged 20.9 ppg and 13.7 rpg, but the Knicks were eliminated by the Baltimore Bullets in the Eastern Conference Finals. In 1971–72, Reed was bothered by tendinitis in his left knee, limiting his mobility. He missed two weeks early in the season and returned, but shortly thereafter the injured knee prohibited him from playing, and he totaled 11 games for the year. Without Reed, the Knicks still managed to make the NBA Finals, but were defeated in five games by the Los Angeles Lakers.
The 1972–73 Knicks finished the season with a 57-25 record and went on to win another NBA title. Reed was less of a contributor than he was two seasons earlier. In 69 regular-season games, he averaged only 11.0 points. In the playoffs, the Knicks beat Baltimore and the Boston Celtics, and once more faced the Lakers in the finals. After losing the first game, the Knicks captured four straight, claiming their second NBA Championship with a 102-93 victory in Game 5. Reed was named NBA Finals MVP.
Reed's career was cut short by injuries, and he retired after the 1973–74 season, his 10th. For his career, Reed averaged 18.7 points and 12.9 rebounds per game, playing 650 games. He played in seven All-Star Games.
Legacy
- 1970, Reed was inducted into the NAIA Basketball Hall of Fame
- 1982, Reed was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.
- 1997, In polling for the "NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team", Reed was selected as one of the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History".
Post-playing career
Reed spent several years coaching before moving into general management. He coached the Knicks in 1977–1978, and left the team 14 games into the following season (49-47 record). He was head coach at Creighton University from 1981–1985 and volunteer assistant coach for St. John's University. Reed also served as an assistant coach for the NBA's Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks.
Reed debuted as head coach of the New Jersey Nets on March 1, 1988, one week after the Nets' star forward and his cousin, Orlando Woolridge, was suspended by the league and was to undergo drug rehabilitation. He compiled a 33–77 record with the Nets. In 1989, he was hired as the Nets' General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations (1989 to 1996). During this time, he drafted Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson, acquired Dražen Petrović, and gave the Nets a playoff contender throughout the early 1990's. Reed hired Chuck Daly to coach the Nets for 1992–93 and 1993–94. In 1996, Reed moved to the position of Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations, with the continued goal of building the Nets into a championship contender. The Nets made the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003.
Reed next took the position of Vice President of Basketball Operations with the New Orleans Hornets in 2004. He retired from that position in 2007.
In popular culture
In the 1996 movie, Eddie, Edwina Franklin, played by Whoopi Goldberg, wears Reed's #19 jersey to a New York Knicks game.
Willis Reed is name-checked in the Beastie Boys' song "Long Burn The Fire". ("Like Willis Reed or Elton John, we done been in the game and our game's still on.")
