Willis Reed (19) of the New York Knicks drives against San Francisco Warrior Clyde Lee (43) during an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 1970. At right is San Francisco Warrior Jeff Mullins (23). Reed died Tuesday at age 80.
John Lent/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
John Lent/AP
Willis Reed (19) of the New York Knicks drives against San Francisco Warrior Clyde Lee (43) during an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 1970. At right is San Francisco Warrior Jeff Mullins (23). Reed died Tuesday at age 80.
John Lent/AP
NEW YORK — Willis Reed, who dramatically emerged from the locker room minutes before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to spark the New York Knicks to their first championship and create one of sports’ most enduring examples of playing through pain, died Tuesday. He was 80.
Reed’s death was announced by the National Basketball Retired Players Association, which confirmed it through his family. The cause was not released, but Reed had been in poor health recently and was unable to travel to New York when the Knicks honored the 50th anniversary of their 1973 NBA championship team during their game against New Orleans on Feb. 25.
Nicknamed “The Captain,” Reed was the undersized center and emotional leader on the Knicks’ two NBA championship teams, with a soft shooting touch from the outside and a toughness to tussle with the era’s superstar big men on the inside.
His accomplishments —…