Peter Vecsey on Twitter: "Just received word that Willis Reed, 80, passed this morning. He has suffered from congestive heart problems over the past year or so, and was going through rehab to walk. Loved everything about Willis! A man’s man!!" / Twitter
I vividly remember sitting in the kitchen of my house in Queens on May 8, 1970 with my parents, listening to Game 7 of the Finals on the radio (WHN, 1050 on your dial, as the game was of course blacked out in the New York City metro area unless you had cable, which was only available in Manhattan). We already knew he was going to play (Marv Albert had announced it), but the people at the Garden didn't know it, and the noise that came through that radio when he walked out during warmups is something I'll never forget. He hit his first two shots (and no more), Clyde had a game for the ages (36 points, 19 assists, 7 rebounds), my boy Dave DeBusschere (the 22 in my user name is in his honor) had 18 points and 17 rebounds, and the game was over by halftime, when the Knicks had a 27-point lead. It capped the greatest 16 months of my sports life, with championships by the Jets (January 1969), Mets (October 1969), and Knicks (May 1970). RIP, Cap'n.
