Friday, May 08, 2020

50 Years Ago Today

Just listened to Mad Dog (an old buddy of mine, natch) do a great interview with Clyde Frazier about today being the 50th anniversary of Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, which of course gave the Knicks their first championship. It's generally known as the Willis Reed game for his early game heroics of actually showing up and limping through the first few minutes with his injured leg, but what unfortunately gets lost is Clyde had a monster game with 36 points and 19 (yes, 19) assists. Clyde either made or assisted on 31 of the Knicks' 46 field goals that evening.

That 1970's Knicks team really with their completely unselfish play did seem to be the very personification of the word "team", which any of them will tell you, and they remain close to this day.

It's hard to believe now how much the city LOVED the Knicks in the 1990s when I moved to there in 1998. I hated them because they were fucking unwatchable, but the city was nuts about them. Meanwhile that team in the 70s is a joy to watch on old films. Today, the Knicks are nothing but a punchline. They have been for years, and will continue to be for a long time.

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