Comments on: Unsung Knick History – The Night Willis Fought the Entire Laker Bench…and Won!

By: originaldiscokid

originaldiscokid — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 21:17:47 +0000

Here from reading Bill Simmons’ “The Book Of Basketball,” where he described the scene as “the ’67 Lakers massacre.” I’m not a Knicks fan but I love your account of a moment that could never happen now. Man, I miss these days, but players fighting today would take it too far. That said, it was awesome when an enforcer like Willis could clean house when needed. What an incredible player.

By: daJudge

daJudge — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:27:56 +0000

A truly amazing time in our history in which I grew up. I know this sounds terrible, but it is true–just think—back then the vast majority of the majority did not and would not even concede that a black woman could be beautiful or a black man an intellect. It was crazy. I know things are far from perfect, but oh my, times have changed big time. This is also why Clyde was not just cool and Willis was not just tough, IMO, they were important socially and culturally for us kids. And what a mix of Knicks back then!

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:15:47 +0000

Oh totally, veteran white guy from Dartmouth pushing around the young black guy from Grambling State with no one stepping in to stop it…it practically writes itself!

By: daJudge

daJudge — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:03:40 +0000

I think I’m about the same age as Z-man Thank you very much for the story. This fight was absolutely mythical in my neighborhood. My friends and I would play three on three all day and then hook up the lights. We would all be one of the Knicks. I remember talking about Willis kicking ass so many times growing up with my friends. I’ll check, but I’m pretty sure I have told my wife about this fight so often that she thinks I have Alzheimer’s disease. I’m sure I embellished the story, but I think I got the basics right. The significance of the story is also partly the time when it took place—a very volatile era in America. I will leave it at that.

By: Z-man

Z-man — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:39:26 +0000

Great story, BC. This was the year I became a Knicks fan at age 9, I remember Bellamy but not Barnes, so I must have just missed recalling this fight. Despite polls, stats, and even Willis’s own words, IMHO he is without question the greatest Knicks player ever. MVP of league, all-star game, and NBA finals in the same year? Undisputed Captain and spiritual leader of a team with 3 other HOFers? Centerpiece of one of the most inspirational sports stories in history of all sports, whose name is synonymous with courage? As a kid, I loved Clyde, Dollar Bill, Dave D, etc, but I absolutely worshiped Willis Reed.

By: Marc R

Marc R — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:18:30 +0000

Brian Cronin: Yeah, Marc, I thought I remembered that, too, and I actually had that in the piece (how Reed took a shot at the Knicks for being thugs so MSG aired his fight), but I couldn’t for the life of me pinpoint when it happened (heck, I couldn’t find any evidence of Reed criticizing the Knicks’ players period!), so I removed it in case I was remembering incorrectly.

Well it's good to know that either (1) we're not crazy, or (2) we're not alone in being crazy. Anyway, I think it would be in either 1993 or 1994, for what it's worth.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:55:29 +0000

Yeah, Marc, I thought I remembered that, too, and I actually had that in the piece (how Reed took a shot at the Knicks for being thugs so MSG aired his fight), but I couldn’t for the life of me pinpoint when it happened (heck, I couldn’t find any evidence of Reed criticizing the Knicks’ players period!), so I removed it in case I was remembering incorrectly.

By: BigBlueAL

BigBlueAL — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:54:01 +0000

Z: Another good one Brian! Thanks.Maybe now that the top 25 favorite Knicks poll is finished we should do top 5 fights in Knick history. There’s a lot to choose from, and I didn’t even know about this one! (best one I remember is Doc Rivers v. Kevin Johnson– the two nicest, most mild-mannered guys in the league trying to murder each other in Phoenix :) Derek Harper vs Jo Jo English would be my favorite.

By: Z

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:49:46 +0000

Another good one Brian! Thanks.

Maybe now that the top 25 favorite Knicks poll is finished we should do top 5 fights in Knick history. There’s a lot to choose from, and I didn’t even know about this one! (best one I remember is Doc Rivers v. Kevin Johnson– the two nicest, most mild-mannered guys in the league trying to murder each other in Phoenix :)

By: Marc R

Marc R — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:31:46 +0000

I have a vague recollection of seeing a video clip of this fight once.

It was during the heyday of the Nets-Knicks rivalry in the earlyish 90s and Willis (then GM of the Nets) said something in the press about the Knicks being thuggish or violent.

On a subsequent MSG broadcast they showed footage of this fight (which was TREMENDOUS) to serve as a counterpoint to Willis’ comments. I remember that Marv was working the game.

Does anyone here work at MSG and could track it down?