Knicks Great Finally Makes Hall of Fame

BleacherReport.com

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Monday marked the day the NBA Hall of Famer voters finally got it right, as New York Knick legend Bernard King was finally voted into The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2013.

This has been a long time coming for King, who has long been thought to have been admitted into the Hall of Fame by players, coaches and fans alike.  Better late than never for King, who will headline a class with Rick Pitino and Gary Payton.

Joining those three will be ABA standout Roger Brown, former University of Houston coach Guy Lewis, African American pioneer E.B. Henderson, Brazilian star Oscar Schmidt, Knicks standout Richard Guerin, NBA Executive Russ Granik, former North Carolina women’s coach Sylvia Mitchell, three-time Olympic gold winner and WNBA All-Star Dawn Staley and former UNLY coach Jerry Tarkanian. 

King averaged 22.5 points per game throughout a 15-year career that started with the New Jersey Nets and saw him make stops with the Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, Washington Bullets and New Jersey Nets again.

“This is a richly deserved honor for Bernard, and we couldn’t be happier for him,” said Alvin Attles, who coached King during his time with Golden State. “He was such a fierce competitor who always gave 100 percent effort, every single night.  I vividly remember got he would fly down the court on the fast break and oppositng players would get out of the way.  It was truly a sight to behold.”

King made a name for himself during his tenure with the Knicks, becoming a legend in the process.  He averaged a career high 32.9 points per game during the 1984-1985 season before a knee injury sidelined him, causing him to miss the 1985-1986 season and all but six of the 1986-1987 season as well.  During his tenure with the Knicks, King was one of the best scorers in the NBA, averaging 25.95 points per game.  If not for that knee injury, it is believed by many that the Knicks would have won a title with King playing alongside Patrick Ewing, giving Ewing that sidekick scorer that the Knicks always seemed to lack during his own illustrious career. 

His name came up many times this week not only because of the Hall of Fame induction being this week, but also because of the tear that Carmelo Anthony is currently on.  Anthony, whose idol happens to be King, put on a very King like performance for a stretch of 40 point games, becoming the first Knick since King himself to score that much in that many consecutive games.

King, along with all of the other 11 inductees, will be inducted in during a ceremony in September.