Legendary New York Knick Willis Reed passed away Tuesday afternoon at the age of 80.
“The Captain” will be best remembered by fans for his appearance before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, as he limped onto the court at Madison Square Garden, despite a muscular tears in his right leg, and inspired his teammates to victory.
The iconic radio voice of the Knicks, Marv Albert, joined 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning, to look back on Reed’s signature moment.
“In Game 7, there were all kinds of question marks. People didn’t think he was going to play,” Albert recalled. “Then, you hear a roar and from down below, where I was, you see Willis limping onto the court, minutes before they were gonna toss the ball up to start the game. The Lakers just stopped.”
Reed hit his first two shots of the game (his only attempts), and the Knicks prevailed over Los Angeles, 117-99, to secure the franchise’s first NBA championship.
Albert’s voice will forever be linked to the title run, as the game, oddly, wasn’t televised in New York. “The ABC telecast was delayed. They did have limited cable in bars, I recall… the bars were jammed onto the street. But radio meant an awful lot… and we were very fortunate to do a game like that.”
Listen to the conversation via the player below.