Basketball Intelligence for 3/22/2023
In Memory of Willis Reed
WILLIS REED
Remembering Willis Reed, the Ultimate Tough Guy and Quintessential Knick
Chris Herring, Sports Illustrated
New York Knicks legend Willis Reed dies at 80
Tim Bontemps, ESPN
Willis Reed, Hall of Fame Center for Champion Knicks, Dies at 80
Harvey Araton, The New York Times
Willis Reed loved everything about being Knicks’ forever Captain
Mike Vaccaro, New York Post
“There are times,” Willis Reed told me a few years ago, “when I swear I wake up and I hear the cheers from that night. And here’s what’s funny …”
Here, he laughed, and if you ever heard Willis Reed laugh you never forgot it.
“We hadn’t even done anything yet.”
They would soon enough, of course. Soon enough, courtside observers would spot Wilt Chamberlain abandoning his pregame rituals, and simply staring at Willis on the layup line (after he’d nervously asked of Kalinsky: “George, is Willis gonna play?).