Bernard King: This New York Knicks Superstar had THE GREATEST CHRISTMAS DAY GAME OF ALL TIME | FPP

Bernard King: This New York Knicks Superstar had THE GREATEST CHRISTMAS DAY GAME OF ALL TIME | FPP

Bernard King you know I talked about George gin being the best peer scorer I probably ever seen Bernard King is in that same category to me Bernard King was the most exciting explosive weapon uh in the history of the Knicks he tends to be rightfully acknowledged for how good he

Was as a New York Nick but the problem is that it seems like whenever you hear about Bernard King that’s all you hear about his back-to-back 50-point games his dominant 84 playoff run his 60-point Christmas Day and finally his gruesome knee injury but all of that happened in

Less than a 2-year period when he was a Nick yet before he even got to New York he had already been one of the League’s best scorers for half a decade and after what many believed to be a career-ending knee injury he came back and once again

Became one of the League’s Elite scores during an underrated stint in Washington and you also can’t forget about his incredible college career at Tennessee but in mentioning his greatness you also need to acknowledge his mistakes as Bernard King had significant substance abuse problems which led to him making

Some horrible decisions during the early years of his career which may be why you don’t hear about those years as much but he did his best to improve himself during the remainder of his time in the league but as far as his playing career goes it seems that Bernard King is more

Remembered for moments than he is an entire career of high level play and for as good as he was with New York the career of the BK broer is so much more than his three years with the Knicks let’s jog your memory Bernard King turned out to be the most successful

Basketball player in his family yet there was a time when his younger brother Albert was expected to be even better than him yet king would have more success due to his commitment to the game King was a Brooklyn native and would attend Fort Hamilton High School

Where he would quickly become one of New York’s top players even earning All City honors as a senior so he would have some control over where he wanted to go for college and he ended up choosing Tennessee a Brooklyn native going to Knoxville Tennessee was a bit of a

Surprise R and he would also be joining another New York recruit in Ernie grunfeld Tennessee executive coach Stu Aberdine had spent nearly 2 months in New York recruiting a young grunfeld and during that time he would be able to persuade King to at least give a visit

To Knoxville and when he did the town had a Bernard King Day King was impressed but what was more appealing was that Tennessee promised the soon to be freshman not only an opportunity to start but a system which would allow him and the soon to be sophomore grunfeld to

Be the team’s two stars and the ones responsible for most of the scoring and that was enough for King as he would join grunfeld at Tennessee and the Vols would be debuting the Ernie and Bernie show come 1975 and before I keep going I just got to correct myself for saying in

My Allen Houston video that he was the best ball in program history I don’t know how King slipped my mind but the best ball is King and it’s not really close but back to the video king and grunfeld became the team’s offensive focal points in a runand gun system King

Was a skinny six forward often matched up with guys bigger than him but King was quick off the dribble and his shot release was more impressive as it was so quick that if you blinked you could miss it but he wouldn’t miss it as he led the conference in true shooting percentage

And points as a freshman with grunfeld finishing third and even with his slender frame he was also an elite rebounder finishing second in the conference in that category in his very first game he would score 42 points in a win versus Milwaukee and he was so good

As a freshman that people were looking for any reason for his to be ineligible as letters would be sent to the school suggesting a review of King’s high school transcripts which would eventually lead to King being suspended briefly in early February while the school reviewed his transcripts yet by

Season’s end he would still be first team all conference and the SEC player of the year the bulk of Tennessee scoring came from Bernie and Ernie while sophomore Mike Jackson also provided a good third option yet although the team started 7-1 they would only go 11- 7 the

Rest of the way as they finished at 18-8 and would not earn a tournament birth and King’s freshman season would see him average about 26 1/2 points 12 1/2 rebounds and 1 and 1 half assist per game king would have a minor knee surgery during the off season but would

Still go on to play 25 of the team’s 27 games in 1976 once again he would lead the conference in true shooting and this year his 13 rebounds per game would also lead the conference his scoring had drop slightly to 25.2 points per game which would see him finish second in the

Conference with the leading score being grunfeld so without a doubt the BS had the best onew punch in the nation as the duo even found themselves on the cover of Sports Illustrated king would once again be named First Team all conference and the conference Player of the Year

While also being named the consensus second team All-American and the vs were having a much better year as they put together six game and eight game win streaks to get off to a 16-2 start and although they ended at 21-5 it was still enough for an NCAA tournament birth

Where they would take on Virginia Military Institute in the first round but King wouldn’t have his first tournament appearance as a thumb injury kept him out of the game and Tennessee lost by six ending their year but King sophore season saw him average about 25 points 13 rebounds and one and a half

Assists per game and King’s upcoming Junior season would see him in the news but for all the wrong reasons on October 24th 1976 King was arrested for drunk driving and would be suspended from the team for the rest of the Fall quarter he would play 26 of 28 games this year but

Continued to dominate he dropped a fourth in the conference in true shooting percentage yet was still over 60% while again leading the conference in rebounding on a career-high 14.3 per game and also leap frogging grunfeld for the conference lead in scoring at nearly 26 points per game for the third

Straight year he would be first team all conference and Conference Player of the Year while this year being named a consensus first team All-American after a two and2 start the balls would go on a 12-game win streak which included a win over number three Alabama and a win over

Number two Kentucky at rup Arena as overall the balls would go 22 and5 and finish tied with Kentucky for first in the conference at 16-2 they would enter the tournament with a first round match up versus Syracuse and this time they would have King available but it would

Be the same result as last year as Syracuse took the win in OT and ended the ball’s year king would start slow and was Syracuse’s main focus on defense and even though he came alive in the second half it wouldn’t be enough he would have 23 points and 12 rebounds but

Would shoot about 42% from the field commit nine turnovers and be one of three B starters to foul out but for his regular season he averaged about 26 points 14 1 12 rebounds and three assists per game the Ernie and Bernie show was over for now as both players

Declared for the NBA draft King was granted early eligibility due to being considered a hardship case and he was also believed by many to be the best talent in the draft yet he wouldn’t be taken till the seventh pick by the New York Nets who were about to move to New

Jersey but then about a month after the draft King found himself in trouble again as he was arrested for breaking into Tennessee’s campus and stealing a TV set which was found in his car it wasn’t quite his hometown team but playing for New Jersey was pretty close the Nets had just completed their

Inaugural season as a member of the NBA but had gone 22 and 60 and didn’t really have any bright spots on their roster so a 21-year-old king would be given a lot of responsibility as a rookie but he would make it look just as easy as he

Did in college he would play seven 9 games as one of the League’s top rookies as he would finish tied for first among rookies in scoring as well as second in rebounding and his 24.2 points per game would also tie for the ninth highest average in the NBA king would hit double

Figures in 75 games including 22 games with at least 30 and two with at least 40 along with 37 double doubles as he was named to the all rookie team the Nets made a mid-season trade with Indiana for John Williamson who would finish the year as the Net’s top scorer

Yet king would be the team’s best scorer among among players that played at least half the season with the team prior to the Williamson trade the Nets had been terrible as they were 9 and 38 at the time of the January 27th trade and in the middle of a 16 game losing streak

They would have a more respectable end to their season as they would go 15 and 20 the rest of the way but would still finish at 24 and 58 and King’s rookie season would see him average about 24 points 9 1/2 rebounds and 1 and a half

Steals per game the 1979 Nets would get a full season out of their wing Duo of king and Williamson both of their scoring averages would drop yet they would still combine for nearly 44 points per game king would play all 82 games and although his scoring and rebounding

Had dropped he went from shooting below 48% as a rookie to shooting above 52% in year two he would have 75 games in double figures 15 games with at least 30 and three with at least 40 along with 30 double doubles and a 32 point 13 rebound

And 11 assist triple double in a January 12th loss to La however it became clear that King had legitimate struggles with substance abuse as he would be arrested for drunk driving and cocaine possession on December 19th the Nets would have an improved year as it would finish at 37-

45 and would get a first round playoff matchup versus Dr J and Philly king would play great averaging 26 points on 50% shooting including a game high 27 in game two but the Sixers would win both games in a two- game sweep and Kings regular season saw him average about 212

Points eight rebounds and three and a half assists per game but the Nets would decide to make a change in the off season the Nets had not been a good rebounding team during King’s time there so to address that they would pick up big man Cliff Robinson and a more rugged

Calvin Gat in the draft and the offensive-minded king became Expendable so on October 3rd he was traded to Utah along with King the Jazz had recently acquired Adrien Dantley from the Lakers and looked to have a potential scoring Duo for years to come additionally to start the year they still featured

Franchise Legend Pete marovich but but one of these offseason moves wouldn’t work out for Utah and it wasn’t the Dantley trade king would appear in 19 games for the Jazz to begin the 1980 season as he would begin the year as a starter but after performing poorly he

Would find himself on the bench but then on January 3rd King was arrested for some serious offenses that he allegedly committed on New Year’s the Jazz would suspend him indefinitely after the charge was made as king season ended after 19 games with him averaging about

9 and 1/2 points 4 and 1/2 rebounds and 2 and half per game but a poor season was the least of King’s concerns although it was not an excuse lie detector test would suggest that King had no recollection of the night in question and during his suspension he had been undergoing treatment for

Alcoholism then in the summer with King facing felony charges for his actions he would come to a plea agreement which would see him plead guilty to misdemeanors and avoid jail time with the judge telling him she would suspend his jail terms to allow him to continue playing basketball and undergoing

Treatment for his alcoholism but Jazz GM Frank leaden wouldn’t show the same leniency as he would maintain that king would continue to be suspended from the team and then just a few months later King was no longer a member of the Utah Jazz the Jazz would send King to the

Golden State Warriors for Wayne Cooper and a second round pick although King had severely tarnished his reputation he was still one of the League’s best talents and would reassume his role as a top scorer during the 1981 season on paper the 81 warriors were absolutely stacked on top of King they featured a

High-scoring guard named World B free a sweet shooting third-year forward in pervis short and two great rookies in the rugged Larry Smith and the first overall pick out of Purdue in Joe Barry Carroll king would finish as the team’s second leading scorer as he was back to

Averaging over 20 a game his rebounding had dropped but what was most impressive was that King was shooting a career-high 58.8% from the field which would be a top five Mark in the league king would hit double figures in 76 games while having 19 games with at least 30 and

Recording his first career 50-point game against Philly on January 3rd when he had 50 points on 20 of 25 shooting and a loss and King’s year would see him become the first winner of the NBA short-lived comeback Player of the Year award offense would not be Golden

State’s problem as they would be a top 10 scoring offense in the league yet they would only go 39 and 43 and this was thanks to them featuring a bottom three scoring defense as they would miss the playoffs and for the regular season King averaged about 22 points seven

Rebounds and 3 and 1 half assists per game The Warriors rolled out the same core during the 82 season but this time king would score over 23 points per game which would be top 10 in the league and he would again do so on incredibly efficient shooting which also saw him

Finish in the top 10 and King’s improved scoring season would see him as the Warriors top scorer this year he would hit double figures in 77 games have 16 games with at least 30 and two with at least 40 as he was voted to his first career All-Star team this season while

Also being named second Team all NBA but the Warriors continued to have the same problem as although their defense had improved it was still their weak point as they almost had too many weapons on offense they would have a better season finishing at 45 and 37 but in a competitive Western Conference this

Wouldn’t be enough for a playoff appearance and King’s season ended with him averaging about 23 points six rebounds and 3 and a half assists per game and although he had been having success in Golden State the next stop for king would be a trip home shortly before the 83 season King would be

Traded to New York for Michael Ray Richardson Richardson was a much better defensive player which the Warriors needed however King was technically a free agent and the Knicks offered him a 5-year deal worth $750,000 per year yet in 1982 free agency didn’t really exist so golden

State had the right of first refusal and would say they weren’t just going to let King get away so negotiations ensued and the Warriors must have liked Richardson enough to part with King and while still retaining is short although it was a big loss it made sense for Golden State the

Offseason was looked at as the Renaissance of the New York Knicks they had been on a downfall since their Championship glory of the early 70s but had just acquired their new franchise player as well as brought in former player Dave deuser to run the front office and hired huie Brown to replace

Retired coach red Holzman and the cherry on top for King was that a month and a half earlier they had signed his old friend bringing back the Ernie and Bernie show okay so it wouldn’t exactly be the the same as grunfeld was nothing more than a rotation player at this

Point but it was still a good story the Knicks featured Some solid veterans in Rory sparrow and truck Robinson but their second best player alongside King was fourthe Center Bill cartright who would combine with King to average over 37 points per game king would ease into huie Brown system averaging less than 22

Points per game yet continued his incredible efficient shooting at nearly 53% he would hit double figures in 64 of the 68 games he played while recording at least 40 points twice which coincidentally both occurred during away games versus Detroit but it looked like the same old Knicks to begin the season

As they started 0 and 7even but over time they were able to recover even stringing together an eight-game win streak in March and by the end of the regular season they were 44 and 38 and set to take on the Nets in the first round this was a very exciting series

For king and the King family in general as Bernard King would be taking on his former team in the turnpike classic and at this point the Nets featured his brother Albert who had just ended his second NBA season and had been New Jersey’s top scorer Albert would play

Well putting up 21 a game on about 47% shooting but big brother would play better as he averaged 29 Points on over 63% shooting in a two-game New York Sweep as Bernard King would score a game high 40 in game one while Albert would

Have a game high 25 in game two New York would move on to face Philly but the Sixers new acquisition of Moses Malone just made them too strong as the Knicks were swept in four king was aici shooting over 54% for the series but he just wasn’t shooting often as he

Averaged his 16 points across the first three games he would have a game high 35 in game four but it was too little too late as New York’s season was over and for the regular season King averaged about 22 points five rebounds and three assists per game now going into the 1984

Season fans were about to be treated to the brief peak of Bernard King the Knicks roster looked mostly the same and King and cartright were again the team’s top scorers however now they were combining for over 43 points per game as king had elevated his scoring to a then

Career-high 26.3 points per game which would see him finish top five in the league and although he was shooting more he hadn’t sacrificed efficiency as he was shooting over 57% from the field which would be 10th in the league and although the three-point line existed King operated inside that line but where

He would get a lot more of his points would be at the charity stripe as he was one of the best at drawing fouls finishing seven in the league with the career-high 437 made free throws halfway through the season King’s scoring had been a bit more modest as with the

Knicks sitting at 24 and 18 going into the All-Star break he was only averaging about 23.7 points per game but he would be playing in the All-Star game for the second time in his career but it was what he did right after the break that added to the legend of Bernard King in

New York’s first game after the break King went off in San Antonio on January 31st scoring 50 points on 20 of 30 shoot shooting with 0 threes to go along with eight rebounds in a four-point defeat of the Spurs the next night they continued their Texas road trip as they would face

Off with the Mavericks and after playing 44 minutes and scoring 50 points the night before it was understandable that King may be sluggish this night but he would come out strong with 11 in the first quarter then another 11 in the second he would be even better in the

Second half with 14 in the third quarter and then needing 14 points for another 50-point game he would score EX exactly that in the fourth quarter becoming the first player with back-to-back 50-point games since Rick Barry in 1967 as he would finished the game with 50 points

On 20 of 28 shooting and no threes in another win as New York would win nine of their first 10 after the All-Star break and king would have five more games with at least 40 over the rest of the year as he averaged over 30 points

In the final 35 games and the Knicks finished the year at 47 and 35 as they earned another playoff birth and King was voted First Team all NBA while finishing second to Larry Bird in MVP voting but King wasn’t done yet as he was about to go on a legendary playoff

Tear the Knicks were underdogs going against the Pistons in round one but King was the definition of Unstoppable throughout the series he would start game one by scoring 36 points on over 57% shooting as the Knicks came back from being down 12 in the fourth to

Steal a game in Detroit in game two he would have a postseason career high of 46 points on over 51% shooting yet would do so in a losing effort back at the Garden for game three king would have another 46o game this time shooting over 70% from the field and

Pulling down 10 rebounds as the Knicks would go up 2-1 but the Pistons would even the series in game four even though King had 41 points on 60% shooting so it was Do or Die going into game five and I’ll let huie Brown tell you what kind

Of shape King was in we had an added problem because Bernard King had the flu he did not work out in a shoot around the flu was sapping his body he had a splint on the middle finger of the one hand and a splint on the middle finger

Of the other hand playing with two dislocations but like I said earlier nothing was going to stop King as he had 44 points and 12 rebounds on over 65% shooting as the Knicks outlasted the Pistons in overtime to advance to a second round match up versus Boston this

Series would not be looking good as Boston would open with two blowout wins wins with King averaging just 19.5 points on about 46% shooting over the two games he would have 24 in game three as the Knicks were able to get a win at home and he would then erupt for 41

Points on 68% shooting in a game four win as the Knicks even the series a game five blowout loss would see him drop 30 on nearly 53% shooting and then needing a win he would go for 44 on 64% shooting to force a game seven game seven would

See King have a team High 24 on 47% shooting but a 39-point triple double from Larry Bird would lead the Celtics to Victory yet even though the Knick’s postseason was over Bernard King had made his Mark and for the regular season he would average about 26 and2 points

Five rebounds and two assists per game days before the 1985 regular season the Knicks were dealt a huge blow as cartright suffered a foot injury which would ultimately keep him out all season so king would now have to take on an even bigger offensive load but that was

No problem for him he started the year scoring at an incredible rate hitting at least 30 points more often than he was scoring below 20 and would put together a three-game stretch in late November where he had 40 points 45 points and then 52 points shooting over 60% in all

Three games and his Peak Performance came about a month later during a Christmas Day game versus the New Jersey Nets king would dominate in the first 24 minutes as by halftime he had already scored 40 points he had cooled down in the second half to the tune of 20 points

But when it was all said and done King finished with 60 points on 19 of 30 from the field and 22 of 26 from the free throw line as his 60o performance was a career-high and stood as the all-time Nicks record until Carmelo Anthony’s 62-point game in 2014 but even so the

Knicks lost and that was how their season was going King was the team’s whole offense and even with his incredible performances he couldn’t do it all as after the loss they were 12 and 19 and would continue losing as they they entered the All-Star break at 18

And 33 with King participating in his third career All-Star Game the losing continued and the Knicks were 24 and 46 going into a March 23rd game versus Kansas City King was doing his thing as he had 37 points on 16 of 26 from the field but once again it looked like the

Knicks were on their way to another loss late in the game but then what should have been just a routine play turned into a career altering moment for King look out as he hustled back to contest a breakaway dunk By Reggie Theus King injured his knee and it looked serious

King would be carried off the court and a few days later it would be confirmed that King had suffered a torn ACL as well as torn cartilage in his right knee which in 1984 was essentially a career death sentence the injury would obviously end King’s season as the

Knicks would lose the final 11 games of the year to finish at 24 and 58 and miss the playoffs and in King’s 55 games he would average a career high and League leading 32.9 points six rebounds and 3 and 1 half assists per game the injury was severe and the rehab would be

Extensive but King was determined to make a return to the NBA and prove all the delter wrong the 85 NBA draft had occurred over the off season where the Knicks infamously were awarded the first overall pick and were able to select georgetown’s Patrick euwing who would

Star for the team as a rookie but would also struggle with injury but he continued to look like the future during the 1987 season and up to this point King had completely secluded himself during his rehab as the seconde Nick Center hadn’t even met him but then around Christmas time an announcement

Was made that king would be holding a press conference today I can’t say I will resume my career with the New York Knicks and I intend to play for many years to come King confirmed his intention to come back and then a few months later on April 10th he would make

His long- awaited return to an an ecstatic crowd at the Garden the king return gave Nick’s fans something to cheer for as they had lost Ying to season ending injury in March and we’re 24 and 53 going into King’s comeback game he would have seven points in his

Comeback but would score a lot like the king of old over the next six games he played before the season ended as in his brief return he would average about 22 and 1/2 points 5 1 half rebounds and three assists per game but King’s contract was up and the Knicks would

Renounce his rights teams were willing to take a chance on the star with the reconstructed knee as the Washington Bullets signed him to a multi-year contract the bullets featured a solid Duo already in Veteran Center Moses Malone and a high-scoring guard on the wing in Jeff Malone the bullets would

Waste no time in getting King back to significant minutes as by his second game of the year he played 44 minutes and scored 25 points king would go back and forth between the starting lineup and the bench this year as he appeared in 69 games and started 38 of them

Playing nearly 30 minutes per game the bullets had been a Fringe playoff team for the past few years and that remained the same this year king would form a solid Trio with the two Malones as he would finish third on the team in scoring with the three combining for 58

Points per game and king would still record 53 games in double figures and five games with at least 30 on over 50% shooting and although King no longer had the explosion to blow past Defenders he was still great in the mid-range and would spend a lot more time going to

Work in the post where he seemed to be automatic the bullets would start the season 8 and 19 before head coach Kevin loger was replaced with Wes unseld and they would go 30 and 25 the rest of the way to finish at 38- 44 which would be enough

For a first round matchup versus heavily favored Detroit the Pistons would win the first two games as expected as King was only averaging 6 and A2 points after two games but then he would score 19 in games three and four as the bullet shocked the Pistons to force a decide in

Game five king would have 18 points in game five but Detroit would win easily to end the bullet season as king averaged about 17 points four rebounds and three assists per game Moses Malone was gone going to the 1989 season but King now had a full season under his

Belt post injury and unseld wouldn’t keep any restrictions on him as he would play and start in 81 games getting about 312 minutes per game he had upped his scoring by over three points per game to finish second on the team behind Jeff Malone as the two combined for over 42

Per game king would hit double figures in 74 games and have 15 games with at least 30 while recording a 43-point game in an April 4th win versus New Jersey but although Washington finished with a better record at 40 and 42 it wouldn’t be enough for a playoff birth as king

Ended the year averaging about 202 points 4 and 1/2 rebounds and three and 1 half assists per game 1990 saw further decline in Washington the team got a good year out of guard darl Walker as he finished top 10 in the NBA in assists but after a great start to the year from

Forward John Hot Plate Williams he would be lost for the year in early December King continued to improve his scoring again finishing second on the team as him and Malone combined for over 46 points per game king would also play and start in all 82 games for the second and

Final time of his career as he would hit double figures in all but three games while having 18 games with at least 30 and recording eight double doubles and he would also become a more willing passer this year as he averaged a career-high 4.6 assists per game but now

The bullets possess the bottom five scoring offense in the league as they would go just 31 and 5 won and again missed the playoffs but king would average about 22 and 1/2 points five rebounds and 4 and 1/2 assists per game the bullets weren’t going to be a threat

Anytime soon but the 91 season would be the year that king would finally feel like he accomplished what he set out to do after the injury an offseason trade would see Jeff Malone sent to Utah with Washington receiving pvis Ellison in return and after two years in a minimal

Role third-year Harvey Grant would have a breakout season for the bullets finishing as the team’s second leading scorer but he was over 10 points behind their leading score in king king would have the second best scoring season of his career at 34 years old he seemed to

Be on a mission this year as in just the second game of the season he dropped 44 points in a win over the Michael Jordan LED Chicago Bulls then would have 45 against the Kings a few weeks later he would drop 46 against Cleveland on December 22nd then a week later would

Have 52 points on over 57% shooting in a defeat of Denver and would follow that up with 46 points versus Charlotte a few nights later and finally in a January 31st game against New York at the Garden he would have 49 points and 11 rebounds

On 20 of 35 from the field in a nine-point Bullets win ultimately king would finish the year with 29 games with at least 30 11 games with at least 40 and two games with at least 50 and his incredible season saw him voted to his fourth and final All-Star game and be

Voted third Team all NBA as he became emotional after making his return to the All-Star Game and although he missed a lot of the second half of the year with the back injury by season’s end he was once again one of the most lethal scorers in the NBA as his 28.4 points

Per game would see him finish third in the league but similar to his time in New York he couldn’t do it all as Washington overall had a bottom five scoring defense and would finish the year at 30 and 52 and miss the playoffs as king season saw him average about 28

And2 points five rebounds and four and a half assists per game during the off season King had another surgery on his right knee to remove porn C Village and would miss all of training camp and the beginning of the season but then by December his niece still wasn’t making

Any progress and with no set timetable on the healing process he would miss the entire 92 season and then going into the 93 season he was still injured and what was once a fruitful partnership with Washington would sour immediately king would practice with the team for the

First time in about 16 months on January 7th and almost instantly would asked to be activated which coach Wes unseld wasn’t in full agreement with leading to him and King arguing and on top of King having some Choice words for unseld the two also became physical and then days

Later King essentially demanded a trade and would then be suspended so on January 22nd the bullets would release the four-time allstar and a couple weeks later he would return to where it all started and sign on for the remainder of the year with New Jersey he would appear

In 32 games in a bench roll as his best games would come in an April 2nd loss to Chicago in which he had 21 points and an April 23rd loss to Orlando in which he had 24 points but the Nets finished 43 and 39 and got a first round match up

Versus Cleveland which they would lose in five king would start game one and score eight points in a loss but then would only see a few minutes of action in games three and four and for his regular season King averaged about seven points 2 and a half rebounds and half an

Assist per game and he would retire during the off season Bernard King is far from perfect and would continue to have his struggles with alcohol and the law after his retirement it seems he’s on a better path today but he went through his fair share of ups and downs

Throughout his career from a basketball standpoint Bernard King had one of the most complete offensive games of all time his early years playing down low helped him develop a great post game and finishing ability but he also had an explosive First Step pre- knee injury and a lightning quick shooting release

That never left him he was the best Tennessee volunteer of all time yet also began struggling with substance abuse during this period he was great for the Nets and the Warriors in his ear years but again made some terrible decisions that destroyed his reputation and almost

His career he did his best to redeem himself both on and off the court as his career went on and he would put together an impressive three-year stretch in New York he’s remembered more for the career that the injury stole and not as much for the comeback he made which is

Unfortunate as he showed four years of constant Improvement in Washington until he was again among the League’s best and even though his overall career saw limited team success it was not his fault and for a brief period during the mid 80s Bernard King looked like he was

On his way to being the best player in the NBA but that’s it for today’s episode on Bernard King hope you enjoyed it and make sure to subscribe for more videos like this one if you liked it check out this one on his very brief

Teammate in Utah or this one on one of his late career New Jersey teammates thanks for watching and see you next time

He first saw fame as one half of the Bernie and Ernie show as he and Ernie Grunfeld formed a great duo on the Tennessee Volunteers of the mid 70s. He would eventually find himself playing for the New Jersey Nets where he would immediately become one of the league’s best scorers, but for as much success as Bernard King had throughout this period, he had also really struggled with alcohol and substance use; and it culminated in him committing some serious crimes as a member of the Utah Jazz in 1980. He would never again play for the Jazz and would be extremely lucky to avoid serious jail time, and when he was traded to the Golden State Warriors prior to the 1981 season, he had a severely tarnished reputation which he had to try and build back up. In 2 years with Golden State, he would show that on the court he was the same player, winning NBA comeback player of the year in 1981 and being voted an All-Star in 1982. But after 2 years, he was traded back home to New York where he made two all star appearances, two first team All-NBA appearances and led the league in scoring in 1985. For a couple years during the mid 80s, there was arguably no better scorer than Bernard King, but with his career at its height, he suffered a horrible knee injury in 1985 which didn’t see him comeback until the end of the 1987 season. After the Knicks had a new star in Patrick Ewing, Bernard King would go on to have some success with some bad Washington Bullets teams in the late 1980s and early 1990s where he was able to garner one more all star appearance. He had a brief send off with the New Jersey Nets before retiring, yet continued to struggle with alcohol and terrible decisions after his career. Today, he seems to be doing better and if you’re strictly talking basketball, Bernard King was one of the greatest offensive forces the NBA has ever seen.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kingbe01.html

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