Bernard King
Bernard King
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1956-12-04) December 4, 1956 Brooklyn, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Fort Hamilton (Brooklyn, New York) |
| College | Tennessee (1974–1977) |
| NBA draft | 1977 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7th overall |
Selected by the New York Nets | |
| Playing career | 1977–1993 |
| Position | Small forward |
| Number | 22, 30 |
| Career history | |
1977–1979 | New Jersey Nets |
| 1979–1980 | Utah Jazz |
1980–1982 | Golden State Warriors |
1982–1987 | New York Knicks |
1987–1991 | Washington Bullets |
| 1993 | New Jersey Nets |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career statistics | |
| Points | 19,655 (22.5 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 5,060 (5.8 rpg) |
| Assists | 2,863 (3.3 apg) |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Basketball Hall of Fame as player | |
Bernard King (born December 4, 1956) is an American retired professional basketball player at the small forward position in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 14 seasons with the New Jersey Nets, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and the Washington Bullets. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 8, 2013.[1] His younger brother, Albert, also played in the NBA during his career.
Contents
1 NBA career
1.1 New York Nets
1.2 Utah Jazz
1.3 Golden State Warriors
1.4 New York Knicks
1.5 Washington Bullets
1.6 New Jersey Nets
2 NBA career statistics
2.1 Regular season
2.2 Playoffs
3 Awards and recognition
4 Broadcasting career
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
NBA career[edit]
New York Nets[edit]
Bernard King attended college at the University of Tennessee and was selected 7th overall in the 1977 NBA draft by the New York Nets,[2] who months later relocated from Uniondale, New York to New Jersey and became known as the New Jersey Nets.
At 6′7″ and 205 pounds, Bernard King epitomized the explosive, high-scoring NBA small forward of the 1980s. With his long arms and quick release, King was a tremendous scorer. Speed permeated his game, whether cutting to the hoop or finishing on the fast-break. King led the NBA in scoring in the 1984–85 season with 32.9 points per game and was selected twice to the All-NBA First Team and four times to the NBA All-Star Game.
In 1977–78, his rookie season, he set a New Jersey Nets franchise record for most points scored in a season with 1,909, at 24.2 points per game. He would later surpass this record with his 2,027 point season in 1983–84, earning the first of his back-to-back All-NBA First Team selections.
Utah Jazz[edit]
King played for the Utah Jazz in the 1979–80 season and averaged 9.3 points per game in 19 games.
Golden State Warriors[edit]
The Jazz traded King to the Golden State Warriors before the 1980–81 season. Over two years, he averaged 21.9 points per game in his first year playing alongside players like 1980 NBA All-Star World B. Free, Joe Barry Carroll, and Clifford Ray and 23.2 points per game in his second year with the team. Just before the start of the 1982–83 season he was traded to the New York Knicks in exchange for Micheal Ray Richardson.
New York Knicks[edit]
On a Texas road trip on January 31 and February 1, 1984, King made history by becoming the first player since Rick Barry in 1967 to score at least 50 points in consecutive games. He scored 50 points on 20 for 30 shooting with 10 free throws in a 117–113 Knicks' victory over the San Antonio Spurs on January 31. King followed this with another 50 point performance at Dallas, setting a Reunion Arena single-game scoring record in the process. He scored 11 points in both the first and second quarters and 14 points in both the third and fourth quarters. King drew 13 fouls on Mavericks defenders, including Mark Aguirre, who fouled out. King shot 20 for 28 from the field with 10 free throws in the 105–98 win over the Dallas Mavericks.[3][4]
The next season, on Christmas Day, 1984, King lit up the New Jersey Nets for 60 points in a losing effort, becoming just the tenth player in NBA history to score 60 or more points in a single game. King had scored 40 points by halftime, and finished the game with 19 of 30 shooting from the field and 22 of 26 from the free throw line.[5]
At the peak of his career, however, King suffered a devastating injury to his right leg[1] while planting it under the hoop attempting to block a dunk by Kansas City King Reggie Theus. The March 23, 1985 injury, which included a torn anterior cruciate ligament, torn knee cartilage, and broken leg bone,[6] required major reconstruction, causing King to miss all of the 1985–86 season. To that point no NBA player had returned to form after such a potentially career-ending injury, surgery, and loss of time.
Rehabilitating completely out of the media spotlight, King drove himself back into competitive shape. Despite averaging 22.7 points per game during his first six games back, he had not recovered his pre-injury explosiveness and was released by the Knicks at the end of the 1987 season.
Washington Bullets[edit]
He used the 1987–88 season to solidify his comeback with the Washington Bullets, then launched into three straight +20 point seasons, peaking at 28.4 at age 34 in 1990–91.
New Jersey Nets[edit]
After a year-and-a-half hiatus, King returned for an ill-fated 32-game stint with the New Jersey Nets at the end of the 1992-93 season once knee problems forced him to retire from the NBA permanently.
NBA career statistics[edit]
He retired with 19,655 points in 874 games, good for a 22.5 points per game average and number 16 on the all-time NBA scoring list at the time of his retirement.
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| * | Led the league |
Regular season[edit]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1977–78 | New Jersey | 79 | – | 39.1 | .479 | – | .677 | 9.5 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 24.2 |
1978–79 | New Jersey | 82 | – | 34.9 | .522 | – | .564 | 8.2 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 21.6 |
1979–80 | Utah | 19 | – | 22.1 | .518 | – | .540 | 4.6 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 9.3 |
1980–81 | Golden State | 81 | – | 36.0 | .588 | .333 | .703 | 6.8 | 3.5 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 21.9 |
1981–82 | Golden State | 79 | 77 | 36.2 | .566 | .200 | .705 | 5.9 | 3.6 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 23.2 |
1982–83 | New York | 68 | 68 | 32.5 | .528 | .000 | .722 | 4.8 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 21.9 |
1983–84 | New York | 77 | 76 | 34.6 | .572 | .000 | .779 | 5.1 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 26.3 |
1984–85 | New York | 55 | 55 | 37.5 | .530 | .100 | .772 | 5.8 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 32.9* |
1986–87 | New York | 6 | 4 | 35.7 | .495 | – | .744 | 5.3 | 3.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 22.7 |
1987–88 | Washington | 69 | 38 | 29.6 | .501 | .167 | .762 | 4.1 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 17.2 |
1988–89 | Washington | 81 | 81 | 31.6 | .477 | .167 | .819 | 4.7 | 3.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 20.7 |
1989–90 | Washington | 82 | 82 | 32.8 | .487 | .130 | .803 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 22.4 |
1990–91 | Washington | 64 | 64 | 37.5 | .472 | .216 | .790 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 28.4 |
1992–93 | New Jersey | 32 | 2 | 13.4 | .514 | .286 | .684 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 7.0 |
| Career | 874 | 547 | 33.7 | .518 | .172 | .730 | 5.8 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 22.5 | |
| All-Star | 4 | 1 | 21.0 | .474 | – | .692 | 4.3 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 11.3 | |
Playoffs[edit]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | New Jersey | 2 | – | 40.5 | .500 | – | .417 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 26.0 |
1983 | New York | 6 | – | 30.7 | .577 | .333 | .800 | 4.0 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 23.5 |
1984 | New York | 12 | – | 39.8 | .574 | .000 | .756 | 6.2 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 34.8* |
1988 | Washington | 5 | 4 | 33.6 | .491 | – | .810 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 13.8 |
1993 | New Jersey | 3 | 1 | 8.0 | .571 | – | – | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.7 |
| Career | 28 | 5 | 33.4 | .559 | .250 | .729 | 4.3 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 24.5 | |
Awards and recognition[edit]
At the age of 24, King won the NBA's Comeback Player of the Year award for his play during the 1980–1981 season with the Golden State Warriors. That year, King averaged 21.9 points per game after having played just 19 games the season before with the Utah Jazz.[4][7]
On February 13, 2007, Bernard King's number 53 was retired at the halftime of the Tennessee-Kentucky basketball game at Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee. His jersey number was the first jersey number retired by the Volunteers, who later retired the number of Ernie Grunfeld, King's former teammate. The late 1970s Tennessee men's basketball team was known as the "Ernie and Bernie Show" (in reference to Ernie Grunfeld and King) and is viewed as the golden age of UT men's basketball. During an ESPN interview after halftime, King stated he had not returned to the University of Tennessee in more than 30 years, but expressed his sincere appreciation to the University and his plans to return again. His reason for not visiting his alma mater was simply that he had not been asked. King's ceremony punctuated an 89-85 Tennessee victory over the visiting Wildcats.
During the 2006 NBA All-Star Game, a panel of basketball analysts for the TNT network selected Bernard King as one of nominees of the "Next 10", a list of 10 unofficial additions to the NBA's 50 greatest players list in honor of the NBA's 60th anniversary.[8]
In 2013, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with inductees such as Rick Pitino and Gary Payton.
Broadcasting career[edit]
King is now working as a part-time broadcaster for NBA TV as well as the MSG Network, filling in on some occasions as color commentator when Walt Frazier is on vacation.
See also[edit]
- List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders
- List of individual National Basketball Association scoring leaders by season
- List of National Basketball Association top rookie scoring averages
- List of National Basketball Association players with most points in a game
References[edit]
^ ab Lawrence, Mitch (8 September 2013). "Basketball Hall of Fame doors finally open for Knicks legend Bernard King". New York Daily News. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
^ "1977 NBA Draft, First Round". NBA.com. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
^ Hubbard, Jan (February 2, 1984). "King's 50 beat Mavericks, 105-98". The Dallas Morning News. p. 1B, 7B.
^ ab Berkow, Ira (2 February 1984). "The Incandescent King". New York Times. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
^ Goldpaper, Sam (December 26, 1984). "King Scores Knick-Record 60 Points in Loss to Nets". The New York Times. p. D9.
^ "Bernard King: Comeback 'defines my career'". newsday.com. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
^ "NBA & ABA Comeback Player of the Year Award Winners". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
^ Legends in the Making Archived 2007-12-30 at the Wayback Machine., TNT, accessed March 9, 2008
External links[edit]
- Career statistics and player information from Basketball-Reference.com
Bernard King bio @ NBA.com
"The Incandescent King" @ nytimes.com
University of Tennessee Retires Bernard King's Number @ UTsports.com
Bernard King speech to Tennessee Tip-Off Club @ UTsports.com
[1] @bleacherreprot.com
Bernard King at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
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Categories:
- 1956 births
- Living people
- African-American basketball players
- All-American college men's basketball players
- Basketball players from New York (state)
- Golden State Warriors players
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
- National Basketball Association All-Stars
- New Jersey Nets draft picks
- New Jersey Nets players
- New York Knicks players
- New York Nets draft picks
- People from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey
- Small forwards
- Sportspeople from Brooklyn
- Tennessee Volunteers basketball players
- Utah Jazz players
- Washington Bullets players
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