Thigh muscles torn and closed to create the return of the greatest king In 53, that scene stunned the top Lakers Big Three

On March 22, Beijing time, NBA Hall of Famer Willis Reed died at the age of 80. The most classic storyline about Reid is undoubtedly the return of the 1970 Finals Seven Kings.

At that time, Reed's thigh muscle was torn, and he chose to inject pain needles to force his appearance. When Reid walked out of the tunnel and stepped onto the court to warm up, the Lakers superstars Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, and Elkin Baylor all stopped moving and stayed in place.

Due to injuries and faltering Reid's statistics, he played 27 minutes and scored only 4 points, 3 rebounds and 4 fouls. However, Reid limited Chamberlain's play, and the mental attribute bonus he brought to the Knicks is immeasurable by statistics.

Before Reid joined the Knicks in 1964-65, the Knicks were a bad team that had not won 30 games in a single season for five consecutive seasons, and Reed's arrival changed the Knicks' fortunes, and the super interior lineman put the Knicks on a revival track.

In the 1968-69 season, the Knicks made a transformative trade with the Pistons, and the Knicks traded forward Dave Debusschanel. After the deal, Reid moved from No. 4 to No. 5, Fraser entered the starting lineup, and the Knicks played center with Reid, who was 2.08 meters tall, and Debusschanel, who was 1.98 meters tall, played power forward, and their small ball led for several eras.

In the 1969–70 season, the Knicks won 60 games. In the playoff journey, Reid kicked out the two super interior linemen of Unseld and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and took the Knicks against the Lakers. In Game 5 of the Finals, the Knicks won and led 3-2.

However, at this juncture, Reid was injured, his right thigh muscle was torn, and he missed the sixth game. Without Reid on the inside, Chamberlain went into no-man's land in Game 6, scoring 45 points and 27 rebounds, both of which were personal series highs, and the Lakers won by 22 points.

No one knew if Reid would be able to make it to the Big Seven, and Fraser only knew that Reid was still receiving treatment on game day.

"I found out on game day that Reid was being treated in the physiotherapy room, where he was being treated at eight or nine o'clock in the morning," Fraser recalls. He was sitting in the physiotherapy room before the game, and coach Holzman told us to get out of the physiotherapy room, saying that whether Reid played or not, we had to be ready. So he closed the door to the physiotherapy room. When we went to the playing field, we didn't know if Reid would play or not. When he came on the pitch, we players were just as dumbfounded as everyone else. ”

Reid received a pain shot and then ran into the court with his teammates from the tunnel to warm up, where he received a pass from his teammates and began shooting practice. Every time Reid scored, the cheers of the fans were even louder.

"I'll never forget the looks on the faces of West, Chamberlain and Baylor, three of the greatest players of all time, and when Reid entered the court, the three of them stopped their movements and all stayed there staring at Reid." Fraser said.

"I said at the time, we're going to get those three stars down. Reid's return has given us a lot of confidence, and opponents are very worried that Reid will play. ”

"Center, No. 19, our captain, Willis Reed!"

Knicks legend live host John Condon introduced Reed to the venue, Madison Square Garden Arena went crazy, and all fans gave a standing ovation. Reid was introduced as the third in the starting lineup, and Condon introduced the fourth starter with a full 28 seconds interval, which is extremely rare.

Reed barely moved during the jumping session, limping from the start of the game. At the beginning of the game, Baylor shot a hollow outside the basket, the Knicks counterattacked, Reid received a pass from Fraser and hit the free throw line, and Knicks fans roared. Two rounds later, Reid made a pass feint when he received the ball on the right flank and hit a second jump shot against Chamberlain.

"This guy has nothing to do!" Fraser thought to himself, but Reid limped back to show that he couldn't move properly at all.

Reid scored only four points on those two shots, but he limited Chamberlain with a dragging wounded leg in 27 minutes, and Chamberlain scored 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting, 24 points less than in the previous game. In the end, the Knicks defeated the Lakers 113-99 to win the first championship in team history.

Grabbing seven big games, Fraser slashed 36 points. But throughout the series, even if Reid missed one game and scored only 4 points in the seven, he still averaged a team-high 23 points per game in the series. In the end, Reid won the Finals MVP.

Reid also made history by being the first player to win the regular-season MVP, All-Star MVP, and Finals MVP in a single season.

"I was always asked how I would explain to my son why I only scored four points in the greatest game of my career," Reid said. I will tell my son that it is not the best game of my career, but it is definitely the most important game. ”

The Knicks have won two championships in their history, and Reid is a hero. However, because of injuries, Reid's athletic life is not long enough, so most media will not choose Reid when selecting the greatest player in Knicks history. But so what? Reed's greatness is understood only by those who have worked with him.

"There have been many captains in the history of the Knicks, but Reid is the real captain, and after all these years, he is still our captain." Fraser said.