Bernard King is a strange name to today's fans, but his face may have been seen by everyone, that is, the black man wearing the No. 30 jersey of the New York Knicks, wearing a crown on his head, and a red robe on the outside of the jersey. Don't underestimate him, he's called the King not just because his name is "King", he's the hottest scorer in the NBA in the eighties, and his name was played in the most miserly city of New York, and his career has been very exciting and fascinating.
King was born in Brooklyn, New York, and has loved basketball since he was a child, and he and his brother Albert King are recognized as basketball geniuses, but Albert's talent was released prematurely, and many people still think that Albert is one of the best players in the history of american high school basketball, but his NBA career is relatively mediocre. Although Bernard was not as brilliant as his younger brother, he was also the leading figure of Ford-Hamilton High School, but he really began to be known at the University of Tennessee, when Bernard could be said to have a mixed reputation, the reputation was said to be a rare basketball genius, and the destroyer was said to be technically lacking, and there were many bad habits. But Bernard proved his talent to those people with his own practical actions, averaging 25.8 points per game in his final year of college, and then entered the 1977 NBA draft.
The New York Nets (whose predecessor the Nets moved to New Jersey in 1977–78) acquired Bernard King with their seventh-pick pick in the first round. Unlike the average NBA player, King showed extraordinary scoring talent in his rookie season, not only becoming the team's leading scorer, but also ranking 10th in the league with an average score of 24.2 points. King also earned a spot in the NBA's All-Rookie Lineup that year, but lost to Walter Davis of the Phoenix Suns in the all-rookie rating. The reason is simple, the Nets' record that season was only 24 wins and 58 losses.
In the second season, King still showed strong momentum, averaging 21.6 points per game. Although King is a very dominant player on the pitch, his vices off the pitch have not changed in the slightest. Unable to bear it, the Nets traded him to the Utah Jazz after the end of the season. In the 1979–80 season, King played only a pitiful 19 games with the Jazz, averaging 9.3 points per game, and the heavy drinking and drug abuse made him in very bad physical condition. "I realized that if I continued to drink, then my career would be over, and most likely my life would be over." Jin later regretted Meng Lang in his youth.
Apparently, the Jazz had lost any hope of Kim. After just one season in Salt Lake City, King had to roll up again, and the team replaced him with the Warriors, who of course didn't pay much: Wayne Cooper and a second-round pick, Kim was worth so much at the time. King began his first "rebirth," averaging 21.9 points per game and shooting 58.8 percent from the field in the 1980–81 season, as well as winning the NBA's Progressive Player of the Year award. Of course, this is not worth boasting, but King has made history, because no player has ever won this award after scoring 24.2 points in the "Rookie" season. In the 1981–82 season, he became the team's leading scorer with an average of 23.2 points per game and was drafted to the All-Star Game for the first time. He was also selected for the NBA's second team of the year for the first time. He ranks 8th in the league in scoring, while his 56.6 percent shooting percentage ranks 7th in the league.
Although the NBA's defense was not as urgent as it is now, it is still a miracle that Jin, who is 2.01 meters tall and weighs only 93 kilograms, can still achieve such a high shooting rate, you know, Kobe and Maddy's shooting rate has never exceeded 50%...
After the 1981–82 season, King returned to his hometown to play--- this time with the New York Knicks. In New York, King had the most glorious time of his career, and his season average score has grown every year, from 21.9 in 1982-83 to 26.3 in 1983-84 (5th in the league). In back-to-back games against the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks on January 31 and February 1, 1984, he scored 50 points in two consecutive games, creating an NBA myth that King didn't seem to get tired. At the same time, he was once again selected for the All-Star Game and was named to the First Team of the Year for the first time.
Almost on Kim's own, the Knicks made it to the playoffs and beat the Detroit Pistons 3-2 in the first round, with King scoring 36 points in those 5 games! The remaining four games all exceeded 40 points. Throughout the playoffs, King averaged 34.8 points per game, and while the Knicks lost seven games to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Bernard King's name is no longer known.
In the 1984-85 season, King continued to score wildly, not only topped the league with an average of 32.9 points per game, but also made him unforgettable, just in 1984 Christmas, the team played against his old club New Jersey Nets, he scored a personal record and a record 60 points - also a Christmas record, and on February 16, 1985, he scored 55 points against the Nets.
"You ask any scorer and he'll tell you that when you get into the scoring zone, you're going to succeed." King told others that "when I average 30 points per game, I don't have to think about anything. Everything develops at an instinctive level. On a special night, no matter what you do, you will feel that you will succeed. It's an incredible feeling. There's nothing better than it. ”
Gold playing ball is not flashy, but it is very practical and efficient. He has offensive firepower that will be in awe of all defenders, and when he turns his back to the basket and singles on the inside, he will use a quick rotation to the left or right to get the free time, and then he will turn around and jump shot with lightning speed. His shooting percentage has remained above 50 percent for seven consecutive seasons.
Kim, however, did not have a perfect ending for the Knicks, falling heavily on the court during the March 23 game against the Kansas Kings, severely tearing the ligaments in his knee. It was a very, very severe ligament tear that left King in just six games in both the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons — his last six games in New York.
This injury also led directly to the Knicks' decline, but the team was blessed with a poor record that they were given the first overall pick in the 1986 first round, and they used this draft pick to select Patrick Ewing. In the following season, Ewing missed six games due to injury, which was the only six games King played that season. The two superstars have not played at the same time, and in those six games, Kim has still averaged 22.7 points per game, wanting to prove to the team that he has successfully returned. But the Knicks had no interest in him at this point and gave up on him at the end of the season.
Amazingly, King began his second rebirth after leaving New York— when he was 31 years old. He began playing for the Washington Bullets in the 1987-88 season, averaging 17.2 points per game in his first year, but the next three seasons have increased dramatically! By the 1990-91 season, King was averaging 28.4 points per game! Ranked third in the league after Jordan and Malone, he re-entered the league's top scorers and, of course, played in that season's All-Star Game.
Apparently, King changed some of his playing style after this injury to accommodate his knee injury. Most of his scoring comes from forced singles on the inside, with a quick stop jumper near the bottom line or directly facing the basket, and a new Bernard King has become a player with a strong scoring ability, often relying on a quick and wonderful turn to send the ball into the basket. At the end of his career, King was completely an inside player!
Not only did he save his knee and his career, but he also transformed him from a genius teenager in Brooklyn, who was thought to be troubled by what was seen as a troublesome one, into a thoughtful basketball superstar. After retiring from the army, King once said: "I will do some big things in my life, and I can always feel that I will do my best." That feeling has been following me and giving me motivation. I knew I needed a lot of courage to get back on the pitch, but I knew I could do it. Not only am I coming back, I'm going to be back as an All-Star. ”
However, King was unable to beat a second knee surgery, this time to remove cartilage, which was performed before the start of the 1991–92 season, which caused King to miss all the games of that season before being fired by the Bullets in January 1993. Since then, Kim, who has returned to the Nets again and is trying to be reborn for the third time, returned to the Nets, but this time he failed to write glory, he only played 32 games for the Nets, and then chose to retire. During his NBA basketball career, King scored 19,655 points, averaging 22.5 points per game.
Kim later told everyone: "His biggest regret is that he didn't get a championship ring, and at the same time, he didn't get into the 20,000-point club. "But do you know what I'm going to do?" Kim said. "When I have time before winter comes, I'll go to our backyard and throw in 350 points. That would fulfill my wish. ”
He still has a king's heart!