Willis Reed was a basketball player and collegiate basketball coach who helped the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association win two championships in 1970 and 1973..
Reed left his family in rural Louisiana to attend Grambling State College in 1961, and his basketball team won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics title. Reed was selected in the second round of the 1964 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. That season, he received the National Basketball Association Rookie of the Year title. In 1970, the Knicks won their first National Basketball Association Championship, and Reed was named Most Valuable Player in the regular season, championships, and All-Star Game. He was the first NBA player to receive all three awards in the same season. Reed helped the Knicks win their second title in 1973, and he was once again awarded Most Valuable Player of the Finals.
During his 10-year career with the Knicks, Reed was the team's inspirational leader. His mere presence could lift the team, as evidenced by events of the 1970 NBA finals against Wilt Chamberlain and the Los Angeles Lakers. Unable to play in the sixth game because of a thigh injury, Reed hobbled onto the court just before the start of the decisive seventh game, touching off an emotional scene. When Reed sank the game's first basket, the Madison Square Garden crowd erupted, helping the Knicks to victory. A series of knee injuries slowed Reed over the years, and he retired in 1974, having compiled 12,183 points and 8,414 rebounds in his career.
After leaving the Knicks as a player, Reed returned as a coach in 1977-79. He coached collegiate basketball at Creighton (and St. John's universities. Reed held other NBA coaching positions, with the Sacramento Kings, the Atlanta Hawks, and the New Jersey Nets, where he was also general manager. In 1981 Reed was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
