December 25, 1984—Bernard King, dealt to the New York Knicks in a trade for another talented but troubled player, Micheal Ray Richardson, showed his former team the New Jersey Nets what they had passed up when he scored 60 pounds against them at Madison Square Garden. It all went for naught, however, as the Nets still managed to defeat the Knicks 120-114.
King’s achievement—a record for a single player at the Garden, not surpassed until eclipsed recently by Kobe Bryant—capped a 2 1/2-year period when the 6-ft.-7-in. small forward became one of the unstoppable offensive forces of the game. He was a mission on a mission--not just to lead his team to a title, but to overcome the drug addiction and problems with the law that bedeviled him early in his NBA career.
King’s achievement—a record for a single player at the Garden, not surpassed until eclipsed recently by Kobe Bryant—capped a 2 1/2-year period when the 6-ft.-7-in. small forward became one of the unstoppable offensive forces of the game. He was a mission on a mission--not just to lead his team to a title, but to overcome the drug addiction and problems with the law that bedeviled him early in his NBA career.
King took care of the second, more personal issues, but the first part was beyond his control--especially when, a couple of months later against Kansas City, an injury ended his season and his dominance.
Between the great Red Holtzman era of the late Sixties and early Seventies and Pat Riley’s Patrick Ewing-led squad of the Nineties, the one bright spot was provided by King. His two full seasons prior to his record-setting Christmas Day explosion contained 20-point-per-game scoring averages, but that doesn’t really gauge his importance.
You really have to look to the playoffs, where King elevated his game—really, carried an otherwise mediocre team on his back—in epic showdowns against powerful opponents. In his first season, the Knicks lost in the second round to the eventual champion Philadelphia 76ers. In his second season, he prevailed over Isaiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons, overcoming fever and two dislocated fingers to pour in 44 points in helping New York capture Game 5 and the series. More amazingly, King forced a Game 7 against a far better balanced (Bird-McHale-Parrish-Johnson) Boston Celtics lineup before losing in Beantown.
By Christmas Day ’84, King was leading the league in scoring with a 32.9 ppg average. He poured in 40 points against the Nets by halftime in this game before Nets coach Stan Albeck decided that if he were going to be beat, it would have to be by someone else. To that end, King faced one different matchup after another in the second half, all designed to deny him the ball. It worked--or, at least, slowed him down. (The one Net who didn’t guard him was kid brother Albert King, then sidelined with an injury.)
Bernard’s own later knee injury meant that this explosive player never achieved the Hall of Fame status for which he seemed destined. It took him two years to rehab it, by which time the team brass decided that keeping their fingers crossed that the recovering King would mesh with their prized rookie Patrick Ewing wasn’t a feasible proposition. They released him in 1987. (Closing a circle, King finished his career--which included more than 19,000 regular-season points and countless TV highlights--with the team where he started: the Nets.)
On any short list of top moments at the Garden in the last 40 years, King’s ferocious Christmas Day performance would have to place high. No other Knick left as many what-ifs, or left you shaking your head so much asking, "Can you believe what he just did?"
Between the great Red Holtzman era of the late Sixties and early Seventies and Pat Riley’s Patrick Ewing-led squad of the Nineties, the one bright spot was provided by King. His two full seasons prior to his record-setting Christmas Day explosion contained 20-point-per-game scoring averages, but that doesn’t really gauge his importance.
You really have to look to the playoffs, where King elevated his game—really, carried an otherwise mediocre team on his back—in epic showdowns against powerful opponents. In his first season, the Knicks lost in the second round to the eventual champion Philadelphia 76ers. In his second season, he prevailed over Isaiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons, overcoming fever and two dislocated fingers to pour in 44 points in helping New York capture Game 5 and the series. More amazingly, King forced a Game 7 against a far better balanced (Bird-McHale-Parrish-Johnson) Boston Celtics lineup before losing in Beantown.
By Christmas Day ’84, King was leading the league in scoring with a 32.9 ppg average. He poured in 40 points against the Nets by halftime in this game before Nets coach Stan Albeck decided that if he were going to be beat, it would have to be by someone else. To that end, King faced one different matchup after another in the second half, all designed to deny him the ball. It worked--or, at least, slowed him down. (The one Net who didn’t guard him was kid brother Albert King, then sidelined with an injury.)
Bernard’s own later knee injury meant that this explosive player never achieved the Hall of Fame status for which he seemed destined. It took him two years to rehab it, by which time the team brass decided that keeping their fingers crossed that the recovering King would mesh with their prized rookie Patrick Ewing wasn’t a feasible proposition. They released him in 1987. (Closing a circle, King finished his career--which included more than 19,000 regular-season points and countless TV highlights--with the team where he started: the Nets.)
On any short list of top moments at the Garden in the last 40 years, King’s ferocious Christmas Day performance would have to place high. No other Knick left as many what-ifs, or left you shaking your head so much asking, "Can you believe what he just did?"
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