IT’S 35 years today since Knicks captain Willis Reed limped out of the tunnel and the Garden combusted in a roar that leaves photographer George Kalinsky still tingling.
“It’s been louder at the Garden, but this noise was the most electric, passionate sound from a crowd I’ve ever heard,” said Kalinsky, who snapped the world-famous photo of Reed hobbling onto the hardwood. “You could hear fans shrieking, ‘Oh my God, he’s out there.’ ”
Isiah Thomas now rules the Garden tunnel, the face of a melancholy era that has the Knicks in their third lottery in four years.
The Knicks have just two championships, in 1973 and the first one 35 years ago, captured on May 8, 1970, when Reed played with a pulled tendon in his right thigh, hit the game’s first two jumpers and the Knicks annihilated the Lakers in Game 7, 113-99.
Former Knicks forward Bill Bradley, who went on to become a U.S. Senator and run for President, told The Post, “It was a special year for New York, for the Knicks and for me. To be a part of a group of players who played so selflessly and won, that was one of the highlights of my life.”
“It has taken on mythical proportions because we were the first NBA championship the Knickerbockers enjoyed,” guard Dick Barnett said. “You never realized the memory would be this long-lasting. It’s a lasting memory because they’ve won only once since.”
If they aren’t the most adored New York team ever, Red Holzman’s 1969-70 Knicks were the most cerebral. Bradley became a prominent politician, Barnett got his doctorate and is a St. John’s business professor. The late Dave DeBusschere hit it big in commercial real estate, Reed became an NBA executive, Walt Frazier an esteemed broadcaster, Mike Riordan a restaurant/tavern owner. And Phil Jackson, on injured reserve with a back injury, became one of the great coaches of all time.
“It was a very intellectually brilliant team,” Barnett said. “A team of smart guys who understood the mental and physical abilities needed. We recognized you needed help and we were orchestrated by that philosophy. When I talk about smarts, the guys have gone on to be outstanding in other activities.”
The Knicks ran off an NBA record 18-game winning streak to start the season, won a club-record 60 games. They practiced in Flushing in a ratty gymnasium with no showers – Lost Batallion on Queens Blvd.
In an unpublished 1988 interview with Mike Vaccaro, now a Post columnist, Knicks GM Billy Donovan said, “You have to understand that pro basketball was like a small, tight-knit family in those days, and it was embarrassing to the men who owned and ran the Knicks that a New York team hadn’t ever won a title, hadn’t even come close in almost 20 years. People remember that as a care-free time, but the fact is there was a lot of pressure on that team, especially on Red. The thinking was, if this team didn’t win, no Knick team would ever win.”
The Knicks took out the Bullets in seven, the Bucks in five, earning their first trip to the NBA Finals since 1953, against Wilt Chamberlain’s Lakers. They didn’t have a serious injury all season, other than Jackson. Then Reed collapsed to the court in Game 5, driving around Chamberlain, pulling his thigh muscle. The Knicks recovered from a 13-point, halftime deficit and won 107-100 victory, giving the Knicks a 3-2 series lead.
“We used a small lineup, with [Dave
Stallworth and DeBusschere on Wilt,” Riordan recalled. “We were changing looks on him, doubling him. We didn’t have any right winning that game. To me, that was the key game.”
The Reed-less Knicks were destroyed in Game 6 back in L.A., Chamberlain going for 45 points in a 22-point rout. Then came Game 7, a Friday night at the Garden. Reed was doubtful.
“If we had any chance at all, try to keep it close and win it and at end,” Riordan said. I never thought we’d blow them out.”
Kalinsky, the Garden lensman since 1967, remembers Reed stopping in his office mid-afternoon. “He could hardly walk, but he said, if it was at all possible to crawl out onto the court, he was going to play,” Kalinsky recalls. “I told him, ‘You could hurt yourself forever if that tendon tears.’ He said, ‘We can win a championship tonight. Sometimes that never happens in a person’s life.’ ”
A nine-inch needle penetrated Reed’s leg before the 6-10, 240-pounder wobbled through the tunnel 35 years ago.
“We finished with the layup lines,” Riordan said. “We were just taking shots from different spots. You heard the crowd erupt and both teams were just riveted on the tunnel. It was something out of a Hollywood script.”
The Captain banged in the jumpers, the fans went wild and then Frazier had the game of his life – 36 points, 12 of 17 from the field, 12 for 12 from the line, with 19 assists and seven rebounds. Riordan remembers Holzman’s game plan, keeping Frazier off Jerry West, keeping him out of foul trouble.
But Reed’s limp out of the tunnel has endured, not Frazier’s monster game. Reed logged 27 minutes, his only points on those opening jumpers.
Frazier no longer is upset his game was overshadowed.
“I know if Willis didn’t do what he did, I wouldn’t have been able to have the game I had,” Frazier said in the recent book, “Garden Glory.” “He got the fans involved and gave us confidence just by his coming onto the floor.”
As Barnett said, “It’s the pivotal moment in our winning the championship.”
And 35 years ago today, teamwork, courage, leadership and defense ruled the Garden.
“The whole was more important than any individual,” Kalinsky said. ” Everyone played to fit in the system. New Yorkers loved it, such a feeling about the way they played, Red was like a musical conductor. Their movements on the court were like ballet movements.”
Where are they now?
A look at the last known whereabouts of the 1969-70 champion Knicks:
NO. NAME POS. AGE WHAT THEY’RE UP TO
12 Dick Barnett G 68 Management professor at St. John’s
24 Bill Bradley F 61 Financial analyst for Allen and Company
22 Dave DeBusschere F – Died May 14, 2003, of heart attack at age 62
10 Walt Frazier G 60 MSG Network analyst
19 Willis Reed C 62 New Orleans Hornets executive VP
17 Nate Bowman C – Died Dec. 11, 1984, at age 41
20 Bill Hosket F 58 TV analyst for Big 10 network in Columbus, Ohio
18 Phil Jackson F 59 Future Hall of Fame celebrity coach
5 Don May F 59 Manufacturing rep, Dayton, Ohio
6 Mike Riordan G 59 Owner of Riordan’s Saloon in Annapolis, Md.
33 Cazzie Russell G 60 Head coach at Savannah College of Art and Design
9 David Stallworth F 63 Manager for Boeing in Wichita, Kan.
16 Johnny Warren G 58 Long Island resident working for Ernst and Young
Red Holzman Coach – Died Nov. 13, 1998, at age 78
Dick McGuire Asst. coach 79 Knicks scout
Keeping score
Knicks’ points per game in the 1969-70 season and playoffs:
PLAYER SEASON PLAYOFFS
Willis Reed 21.7 23.8
Walt Frazier 20.9 16.0
Dick Barnett 14.9 16.9
Dave DeBusschere 14.6 16.1
Bill Bradley 14.5 12.4
Cazzie Russell 11.5 9.4
Dave Stallworth 7.8 7.2
Mike Riordan 7.7 6.9
Bill Hosket 3.3 2.2
Nate Bowman 2.9 2.4
Don May 2.6 2.0
John Warren 2.5 0.4
HONOR ROLLS
League MVP: Reed
Finals MVP: Reed
All-NBA First Team: Frazier, Reed
All-Defense First Team: DeBusschere, Frazier, Reed
Pro Basketball Hall of Fame: Reed (1981), Bradley (1982), DeBusschere (1982), Holzman (1985), Frazier (1987)
