SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — You might have thought from the sweat that poured through his crisp blue shirt Sunday that Bernard King had just stepped off the court after a grueling playoff game.
But the perspiration that stained his collar was just testimony of how humbled King was by being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Such humility is inspiring, particularly when it comes from someone so deserving.
And, if you doubt that, consider the stats:
– 42 points in his first game as a freshman at Tennessee.
– Back-to-back 50-point games with the Knicks.
– 34.8 points per game in the 1984 playoffs.
Consider the quotes:
“I don’t care who was on him,” Magic Johnson said. “It was on.”
“Bernard King is the only guy that ever scared the hell out of me,” Dominique Wilkins said.
Behind the menacing smile was a player with a determination as strong as his post-up game. That was evident in every quick-release shot and punishing fast-break finish. But the highlights that best sum up King’s career have nothing to do with scoring.
In the first, King is writhing in pain, pounding the floor after tearing his ACL on a defensive play.
In the second, he’s strapped to a machine rehabbing the right knee as part of his improbable comeback.
And, in the third, he is sitting next to Patrick Ewing at the NBA All Star Game hearing his name called on the public address system.
The comeback was complete.
“I fell in love with basketball the first time I made a basket,” King told the crowd.
He recalled the days growing up in Brooklyn, clearing snow from courts in the dead of winter so he could work on his game.
“I treasured playing for the Knicks and the great fans of New York,” King said.
There’s no telling how many titles he could have won with Ewing if his knee had held up.
But his inspiring career still makes him a champion whose number should be retired.