Calling old heads: Knicks fans love for Bernard King

[ellobo]

I saw Bernard's whole tenure with the Knicks. He's not only my all time favorite Knick (I don't have clear memories of the title teams), but probably my all time favorite player.

First of all he's a native New Yorker, and that carries an awful lot of bonus points.

Pre-injury with the Knicks he was one of the most productive and efficient offensive machines in the league. His game embodied Clyde Frazier's phrase "bulldozer finesse," combining skill, physical dominance (often against bigger players), and competitive intensity, reflected in his "F around and find out" game face. But he wasn't a ball-stopping iso guy. If you weren't watching the game carefully, you could miss him ever touching the ball, and then hear he had 30 or 40 points. A lot his moves were 0-2 dribbles -- he got to his spot or to the rim and ball was gone. He had a unique pivot on his heels quick release turnaround jumper, and he was also devastating in transition on the left wing, with a signature proto-eurostep inside hand finish.

As Magic says in this video, "We knew he was going to that spot, the 18,000 fans knew he was getting to that spot, nobody could do anything with this man."

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In this article, Larry Bird says, ''I don't understand how Bernard does it. He's in heavy traffic - guys all over banging him and waving their arms - and he gets the shot off, not just any shot, but the shot he wants, and he cans it. Time after time. He's the best scorer I've ever seen or played against."
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/24/sports/the-mysterious-moves-of-bernard-king.html

He carried the Knicks to a signature series win against the Pistons in 1984, outdueling Isiah Thomas with 44 points (17/26 FG and 10/13 FT with 12 rebounds) in a deciding game 5 that went to overtime, then carried the Knicks through a hard-fought seven game series against the eventual champion Celtics. In the Detroit series, he averaged 42.6ppg on .604 FG%, 8rpg, 2.6apg, 1.2spg, and 1.0bpg. And in that playoff run overall he averaged 34.8ppg on .574 FG% and .620 TS% without shooting threes in 12 games against the Isiah Thomas Pistons and the eventual champion Bird/Parish/McHale Celtics. The next year, he was leading the league in scoring with 32.9ppg before tearing his ACL in game 55. Here's some highlights of the deciding game 5 against the Pistons. Isiah Thomas scored 16 points in the final 94 seconds to force overtime before Bernard and the Knicks pulled out the victory.

During a time when the team was not very good, he always made the team worth watching and embodied the toughness of the city. Even after he got hurt and beat the odds, rehabbing on his own (which put him at odds with team management) and becoming really the first NBA player to ever come back from an ACL tear, which was previously a career-ending injury, fans still identified with his resilience and determination.

Bernard was just a beast. I know that's Ewing's nickname, and not taking anything away from Patrick, but Bernard just has a special place in my heart.

[Luv those Knicks]

I loved King. He never faced a do or die playoff series the way Ewing did (Ewing had several) and I think that changes the feelings.

Nobody expected King to win, so we just enjoyed him. Ewing faced those tough Bulls teams. That ugly loss against Indi. Houston was a tough matchup, Miami too, though Miami was mostly past Ewing's prime and I think he missed one series entirely.

The expectation was a lot higher and as a result, more disappointment. In a way, that's not fair to Pat.

[HarthorneWingo]

The Scowl

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[nykballa2k4]

Bernard was a gentleman. Well spoken, affable, smiling, and clearly brilliant. His teams weren’t as good as Ewing’s, and frankly Bernard even at the height of his powers wasn’t as big of a deal as Patrick was at Georgetown.

Ewing was an introverted curmudgeon. His lack of leadership IMO was a contributing factor to why his teams never overcame MJ or Hakeem. However, Patrick came up in the age of the Big Man and was one of the best to ever do it. Also just my opinion, but Pat begrudgingly passed the torch to Shaq as the dominant collegiate big man that fascinated the sports world.

Bernard’s Knick comp is definitely Melo, not Pat. I’ll stay out of that debate, but I have love for all three.

What we’re really talking about here is the current superstar situation where we have a brilliant, affable, phenom like Bernard who’s playing bigger than Pat. Only question is, how far can the legend of Brunson take us?

sorry to derail, but this is kinda wack. patrick was not vocal largely because he has never been a confident public speaker. his leadership by example and culture setting and communication with teammates has never been denied.

edit: i mean, knicks ran into jordan and olajuwon while fielding overachieving but sub-optimal rosters. really hard for me to listen to that kind of criticism of patrick.

I mean, also singularly, Ewing was not as good as Dream. Ewing would have needed more support (roster, coach etc) to over come that gap no matter how small.

[Dave_R]

BK was one of the best post-up players I've ever seen (been watching the NBA since '68). Not sure if its true but I read an article that said King would spin on his heels (not toes) when turning to face the basket from the post in order to get a foot or so closer to the hoop. Also, in addition to being a GREAT post player, I can't remember seeing any non-guard better at getting a rebound and going down the LEFT side of the court -- he was fast and unstoppable.

[Nazrmohamed]

Bernard was a gentleman. Well spoken, affable, smiling, and clearly brilliant. His teams weren’t as good as Ewing’s, and frankly Bernard even at the height of his powers wasn’t as big of a deal as Patrick was at Georgetown.

Ewing was an introverted curmudgeon. His lack of leadership IMO was a contributing factor to why his teams never overcame MJ or Hakeem. However, Patrick came up in the age of the Big Man and was one of the best to ever do it. Also just my opinion, but Pat begrudgingly passed the torch to Shaq as the dominant collegiate big man that fascinated the sports world.

Bernard’s Knick comp is definitely Melo, not Pat. I’ll stay out of that debate, but I have love for all three.

What we’re really talking about here is the current superstar situation where we have a brilliant, affable, phenom like Bernard who’s playing bigger than Pat. Only question is, how far can the legend of Brunson take us?

sorry to derail, but this is kinda wack. patrick was not vocal largely because he has never been a confident public speaker. his leadership by example and culture setting and communication with teammates has never been denied.

@cgmw - thanks for that.

Despite cgmw's comments about Ewing.. there is a love for King that Ewing doesn't get. Ewing gave it all but Knicks fans were on him during the 90s but gave his flowers at the end. I don't hear a lot of that from King's fans. Is it because his tenure as a Knicks too short to get that growl? He wasn't a homegrown player, his tenure was short but great. Was he supposed to be the running mate with Ewing?

I think part of that is....and I'm not saying Betnard wasn't great......Knicks fans seemingly have this wierd admiration for players who get hurt. I think it's this feeling of sorrow for what they are going through especially if they were indeed one of our better players. And the assumption is that they were cheated of the opportunity to shine for us.