Larry Bird Vs Bernard King: 1984 ECSF Gm 6

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[@tonypalombinijr2946]

Bernard King was a special player who would've been one of the all time greats had he not blown out his knee. He was unstoppable in the low post and had a sweet stroke from 15-18 feet. The difference between Kind and Melo is BK would get you 40 points on about half the shots. Melo is a very good scorer but Bernard King was a truly great player.

[@danielkelegian5306]

Knicks should have stuck with him even after the injury. King and Ewing would have been devastating. BK still averaged over 20PPG in Washington including 28.4 PPG his final season. I truly believe if he had not gotten injured, he would have finished in the top 10 for career points.

[@stevenpatrick77]

Those don’t don’t know just don’t know !

[@jlevinsoul]

can't even compare them. Bernard played within the team game. He scored quickly and within the flow of the game! Melo, no flow, game stopped while teamates watched him. Never boxed out, never passed, never set a pick in his life until he was forced to learn how to play with Portland where he was the 3rd or 4th option. too late to save his legacy. FOrever in history as a selfish player.

[@christophercox1795]

Bernard was simply cutthroat would give anybody and I mean anybody the business

[@oldsensei8350]

@@jlevinsoul yeah king was as great player... and Carmelo was a talented Clown

[@jonboy513]

I was at this game. Drove in from college in Pennsylvania with a few guys. We sat in the upper deck (Blue seats) and saw an amazing playoff game. What a back and forth battle. Tickets for upper deck were $15.....for an NBA playoff game! And us working class college kids could afford it. Imagine that. Boy how times have changed.

[@ronachten2902]

Nice memory for you. Thanks for sharing.👍

[@Riles3152]

Man you can barely buy a cheeseburger and bottle of water at a REGUALAR SEASON NBA game for less then $15 nowadays smh

[@mdmcdd1117]

Oh, Basketball Gods, I say a prayer to you to bring back the glory days of the NBA!!

[@clh2192]

Just the 3s. Nobody dunks the ball anymore. No more Docs, Doms, MJs, Kobe...

[@michaelbelfer6513]

Never happen... unfortunately

[@oldsensei8350]

Its over

[@chrispaschal7955]

Bird vs King was one of the greatest match-ups of all time. Loved it!

[@swami1]

I loved that Garden low-angle camera.

[@mdteletom1288]

This was from the MSG network. It was great watching the game from this angle, like you had great seats in the house. Not like the high angled ones where you feel like you're in the nosebleed sections and you need binoculars to see the game on a small TV.

[@bordiguy]

MSG

[@laz0rama]

@M wtf does that have to do with this video? are you mad that basketball is bigger in the u.s. than soccer? why? enjoy your sport, let others enjoy theirs.

[@swami1]

@John Otto Magee I was--and am--a Celtics fan to the core but I loved watching Bernard King.

[@MrMarmarsFilms]

Bernard King was one of the all time greats. After all he did make it to the hall of fame.

[@vm53506]

HE DID GO DOWN AS ONE OF THE BEST SCORERS EVER,,,, HIS MOVES WERE SO FAST AND FLUID... UNSTOPPABLE

[@tellthetruthg]

King was a pure a scorer the NBA ever had. In those highlights look how many people he scored on some of those were six point shots. he scored on three Celtics on triple teamed they were Parish Bird McCale all trying to stop him on many plays and put right in their faces.

[@MrDjtuck]

I remember this game.I'm a lifelong Celtics fan but Bernard King was a player that put fear in Celtic Nation. Bernard would have been a great Boston Celtic and would have won a couple of NBA Championships.

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

I lived in Manhattan in 1984 and was a longtime Knicks fan. We knew King was great but also that he was a one-man team.

[@jet_streamgtx4607]

Don’t ever call him a Celtic . He shitted with no squad. Bird was not fucking with him. Celtics can only watch.u cannot claim Bernard . Never no Knick ever became a Celtic

[@magicman4470]

Eugene Stanton shut the fuck up

[@thomashumphrey7395]

As per normal, Bernard King gets 32 or more a game. One of the best natural scorers the game has ever seen.

[@drummer8by2]

Bernard King was a Monster...remember how they always said look at Birds eyes...the Fire in his eyes....well, when Bernard was young and healthy....just look at his eyes sometime....just like Birds....like a Freakin' wild Tiger.... and I love Bird....but King, was a Monster too....for sure!!!!!!

[@LetsGoMetsGo33]

seems to me Bernard is the most overlooked player of his era. so happy he's in the HoF. I know the peak was too short lived b/c his knee but that don't change how good he was when he was right. I was just 9 in '84, but always remember his scoring dominance. off the top of my head he avg'd 32 or so ppg that year, I believe best in league. including back to back 50 point games. never saw any other knick as dominant an offensive player as Bernard, not Melo or Ewing or anyone.

[@mookeychase0907]

DAMN RIGHT!!!

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

He wasn't overlooked at all. The Knicks wouldn't have traded him for Jordan and gave up Michael Ray Richardson (another great player) to get him.

[@MeIn321]

He definitely was, along with Andrew Toney

[@mdteletom1288]

@@MeIn321 Andrew Toney? Where did that come from? He wasn't even the best player on the Sixers, plus he was a guard. Toney up there with King, that's funny.

[@KeithRobinson-we3yb]

IMO Bernard is the most underrated/unsung NBA player,he was a scoring machine with masterful fluidity, timing,and mechanics,a very tough guard because of his court/ floor prowess and great athletism,though he was known primarily for his scoring ability,i still consider as one of the NBA all-time greates,and if you were fortunate enough to have seen him play,you would also!

[@Mr.56Goldtop]

I love this camera angle! Almost like being courtside!

[@CLewey44]

Damn King was good...one of the TRUE 'what-if' stories in NBA history...And he was a winner. He didn't just score to amuse himself like Ice or whatever, but he did it to win...If he stayed healthy and Ewing coming around the corner, we truly would be talking about a possible Knicks dynasty in the late 80s...

[@IvoryNerva]

I love the camera angle on this. Also that Larry Bird shot at 4:27-4:28 was one of the quickest releases I've ever seen.

[@OneHundredPoints]

This camera angle was used during some time, there are some games of the NY Knicks (and NJ Nets) from this era with this camera angle. Today i don't care the camera angle, because basketball was better in the 80's.

[@drummer8by2]

Yes ^^"One Hundred points"^^.... a whole different era/world back then.... sure they made good money, nothing like today, but they still had, and kept the love, desire, hunger, drive, heart and fight for their whole career....some do today, don't get me wrong, but, as a whole, they pretty much all wanted it back then, they just fought it out every game like it was their last...."Every Game"!!!.... Period!!!

[@josesantana27]

Bernard King was a Beast! And if he didn't have a bad knee injury. I definitely know He and Patrick would have at least one Championship.

[@TTFMjock]

One of them would have had to adjust his game substantially as they were both heavy isolation scorers with limited passing skill. Ewing would have probably gone back to his Georgetown game if he played a few seasons with King with everyone healthy.

[@Ragnar-Viking]

I was at this game and as a poor young man I had better seats than John MCENROE did..My friend was dating a girl from MSG and we got free MSG hats.What a night ! We.loved Bernard King ,he was amazing till the knee Injury

[@coreyeatmon5101]

It's always amazing how small nba players make a full court look.

[@tyronewilliams5418]

The bigger you star, the worst it was for you against Bernard King. And he was an under-rated defender. Julius Erving said Bernard was the best defender he ever went against. Dominique Wilkins said he feared Bernard and Larry Bird said Bernard is the best forward he ever went against. Bird also said, "he gives it to you at both ends of the court" and "hands down he's the best forward in the league.

[@hanky6257]

BK was a prolific scorer .. nobody could stop him

[@auandi]

What a fantastic, real sound when the ball hits the basket and backboard!! Like we are right there, next to the hardwood!

[@jaycompany4886]

Bernard King arguably the best Knicks player of all time!

[@michaelbelfer6513]

I'm an old time Knick fan who remembers the championship clubs very well so if we make up the best starting 5 in team history, King is my small forward no argument!!! Just for kicks anyone want to name their all-time NY team? Mine was not so easy, especially at center. On paper it's Pat Ewing over Willis no contest but at their peaks it's a tough call though I did name Ewing.

[@laz0rama]

@@michaelbelfer6513 knicks fan since 1969 here. my all time starting 5: pg - walt frazier sg - earl monroe sf - bernard king pf - charles oakley c - willis reed patrick ewing could easily be my center. i choose willis for his leadership, heart, winning attitude. patrick was just a hair short in those areas, imo.

[@MrSlik25]

King hit tough tough shots

[@thecommish1976]

Bernard was the greatest pure scorer that I've ever seen. That 1983-84 season and playoffs was one of the most unreal efforts by one man in the history of the league. King's game five effort in Detroit was the stuff of legend. Bernard nearly beat a team that had four Hall of Famers by himself. That Knick team had Bernard, Bill Cartwright, and little else and should have been swept, but Bernard made the Celts sweat. I would have gladly given him my healthy knees.

[@73Trident]

Nobody was in the Hall of Fame in that series!

[@RVRayRay]

King was a scoring machine!

[@GrooTheWanderer80]

This dude was Euro-Stepping in '84. Awesome.

[@tellthetruthg]

King was an amazing scorer . Went to a couple of games when he was GSW .. shot after shot went down amazing marksman.

[@tmbiggie66]

my brother was regarded defensive specialist in college and tried guarding bird to no avail. But He told me he knew Bernard King from back in ny growing up and he felt that Bird was definitely not a better scorer than KING but maybe a better all around player.

[@capitanfuturo594]

Larry Bird was the best all-around player in NBA history.

[@oldsensei8350]

Interesting indeed

[@tmbiggie66]

@@capitanfuturo594 DEFINITELY NOT THE BEST all around player Kobe is maybe the best all around but Bird definitely top 5

[@capitanfuturo594]

@@tmbiggie66 Kobe ? really ? Stop writing crap. Kobe is not even up to Larry Bird's knees playing basketball.

[@ErikSchneider1975USA]

One of the best NBA playoff games of all time

[@mdteletom1288]

Remember while watching this folks, King has 2 broken fingers, one on each hand. One was from when he was posting up on Cedric Maxwell and Maxwell backed up and King slipped and broke his finger. I don't remember how the other one happened, although he might have injured it during the Pistons series, just before this one. This was the series when, after the Celtics went up 2-0 McHale said "the Knicks are dead and buried, all we have to do now is throw dirt on them." The Knicks took them to 7 games.

[@capitanfuturo594]

Bernard King is a very underrated basketball player in NBA.

[@fideltorres6380]

The arch of Bernards shot was super nice how the ball comes straight down into the basket.

[@devvv4616]

Bird must be the master of getting open cos he was making high percentage shots all game, not one forced shot in there. No wonder he's so efficient

[@toscodav]

You can't defend Bird. If you play him tight, he gives you one of those devastating pump moves and he either shoots or dishes underneath. Dude scored at will either way.

[@djboz3002]

This dude was insane

[@davidcallaham60]

No matter who playing Bird still could not be stopped and those kisses off the glass were so special.. BK was awesome and a shame blown knee .. Especially back then

[@christophercox1795]

In the golden age of small forwards he was right up there with bird,doc,Wilkins,Aguirre and the rest of them

[@oldsensei8350]

And before that we had Rick Barry and john havlicek .... all beasts

[@JardoniJovonovich]

Bernard was all alone on those knick teams. No help. Gets an ACL tear during the stone ages of sports medicine...smh. If he never got hurt he would've had Patrick and Mark Jackson and then you would've seen something.

[@samsara6317]

Larry freaking Legend What a road warrior!

[@djwc6]

perhaps the first player (king) to have any success coming back from acl surgery,I believe his was replaced with a cadaver acl.Today the acl is replaced by the middle third of the patellar tendon from the patient,and it is so routine that people forget that this used to be a career ending injury.

[@charlesh946]

Bird himself said that Bernard King was the hardest guy to guard in NBA. And thats w Jordan.

[@thomasmannix817]

Bird was my bball role model but whenever i jammed a finger on my shooting hand i'd tape them like BK & it always seemed to help my midrange shots

[@pbennett13]

scary how good King was, amazingly, WITHOUT a 3 pt shot! If he had ever taught himself that shot, he could have gone down as one of the greatest scorers ever

[@clh2192]

He is one of the greatest scorers ever. There's no doubt about that-lol.

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

He didn't need the three because he was money from inside. He got many three-point plays anyway, by being fouled while scoring.

[@pbennett13]

Film Producer true, but it could have helped his team by spreading the floor forcing defenders to guard the perimeter more, enabling others to score

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

I used to go to the games of those knicks. There was no one on the other end of these passes who could have done anything with them, while Bird had a Hall-of-Fame supporting cast. King and Ewing did play together a bit later but his knee was rehabbing. In the early 1990s they could have made life very difficult for Jordan.

[@48petey]

Correction he didn't need a pet shot they will probably over look bernard dominique and moncreif for next 50 greatest players just like they did the 1st 50 and HOF its a travesty how they were treated u think Worthy Dumars and Reggie M was better? Not a chance

[@whatthehellimbored]

good old days

[@swingtrade2]

Remember the Ernie and Bernie Show?

[@markmustb1]

LARRY WAS IT, -but to pick one other forward, it would be Bernard King Over McHale ,Malone, Wilkens , Worthy , ect

[@he-man6059]

your on crack rocks

[@smswaff1]

nonono....McHale was much better ... But your right...BIRD WAS THE MAN...

[@drummer8by2]

...I do think MCHale was better in some ways, his low post over, up an unders were crazy!!! , nearly unstoppable, but, remember, no excuses, but King got injured several times in his prime, like Bird did in his, hey, the Celts were my team, Bird was my man, I was at his retirement night!!!... but King man....geeezzzzz, was he great.... It's hard to say who was the best... "Bird will always be my fave", hey my Dad was a driven player in the day, and a driven BBall Coach, he loved Cous, Russell, Havi, Sam Jones, I went to Sam Jones BBall school as a kid... I loved the Celts too... but, on certain nights, during certain years, so many in the 80's were just so amazing, Kinda like when Ali was Fightin' , we know he was the greatest, but so many had to prove they could stay in there with the best/greatest!!! ...and they did!!!... ....So, sooo many greats.... and so Hungry to prove it.... ....it was the end of an era as far as I'm concerned.... ...just my opinion of course.... ;-)

[@DeCurtaRican]

McHale was a better rebounder and passer out of the post. But in every other category King was better.

[@thepianist7084]

I wonder if Karl Malone is underrated. I remember a time when he basically scored at-will on anyone. It was awesome.

[@BasketballJones48021]

This series was just great with the goat SF against one of the best SF's (shame for injuries) both in their peaks. Bird showed who the best man was in game 7 though.

[@arrellehnisrael8229]

King on the baseline, King coast to coast, King with the spin move, King in the post, quick release turn around j, and just a joy to watch. King and Magic Johnson are my all time fav players. 16 Celtics fans thumbs down the video... gotta respect that.

[@jjhrkel]

Wow! Quick release fest.

[@bordiguy]

Nobody plays like BK nowadays. Dude was a perimeter nightmare.

[@devaughnmorris7315]

Bernard King is the real reason I became a knick fan

[@kincamell2]

Much Gratitude.

[@BillyBob-ec5ox]

Bernard King is the greatest MID-RANGE player to ever play the game. Why do I say that? Because he could absolutely gut you to death simply by playing at the wing with those high-release turn around jumpers, and do nothing else if he wanted. And there’s not a thing you could do to stop him, other than foul him and send him to the line. His release was simply too quick and too high. And extremely efficient. Remember the game where Reggie Lewis blocked 4 of Jordan’s jumpers in one game? He would NEVER be able to do that to BK. BK terrorized and bullied defenses for 5 years until that knee injury. Which was a relief to the rest of the league.

[@chrispaschal7955]

These were great games!

[@russelljackson5625]

To me Larry Bird is the best small forward of all time, with Lebron James in second right on his heel.

[@thescatman5029]

My son hurt his fingers. He's been treated, and is getting better. Then, I told him to google Bernard King!

[@granadinho]

The King of NY. Bernard LEGEND.

[@laz0rama]

i was at that game in the garden. "mvp...mvp...mvp" the crowd was at its msg best in that game.

[@davem6210]

Bernard King, the most underrated player in NBA history!

[@acornsucks2111]

I was rooting for the knicks as a kid, now I am glad they lost:)

[@jjs777fzr]

Bernard had such a sweet release. Injury limited career for sure.

[@laz0rama]

bernard's baseline turnaround was as iconic as any shot in nba history.

[@cyclesmoking]

I always hated the camera angle on the Knicks broadcasts back in this era.

[@russelljackson5625]

Bernard King should have been on the all 50th great team especially since they put Pippen on it. To me to be consider a all time great at small forward you had to be a big time scorer which Pippen wasn't

[@oldsensei8350]

Your right

[@jerryc8986]

Forwards just can't shoot like this anymore.

[@meirdaniel7515]

Luca can

[@laz0rama]

@@meirdaniel7515 not even close. look at their career fg%. bernard > 51%, luka < 46%. if taking too many 3s lowers today's percentages, i guess that says a bit about the strategy of taking so many. most of bernard's points were from 10-20 feet. what is luka's avg from that range?

[@coffeestainedkashmir1981]

I didn’t know peter griffin was a former nba announcer

[@marknroses]

Kevin McHale almost joined the Knicks in ‘83. Would have been a very different Eastern Conference had that happened…

[@lengabella857]

The garden is the only court that uses the low angle camera. their were other games i watched where bird outshot King

[@gavinhadley7672]

..many other games 😎

[@benbrung]

Notice how little regard Celtic defenders have for anyone besides King. Bernard beats a minimum of 2 Celtic defenders on just about every shot except for a couple fast break dunks & layups.

[@KRHEE]

Bernard King was hella good... but no way he was gonna beat this 84 celtics team.... lol

[@kdfh2899]

Anybody else peep that accidental euro step at 1:50 bernard king was a trend setter i guess not Ginobili or harden 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@maniacmasturbator2411]

kd fh there’s clips in like the 60s of guys doing that move. Hard to find a real original move since almost everything has been done, but sarunas was really the one who brought it on the nba in the early 90s when he played with the Warriors

[@tamimysampani6597]

Bernard King is one of the What If's ever.

[@basilaquil9961]

Bernard that dude yo..way better than pippen they robbed him from the 50 greatest players.. long nose "D" was up ..it's the only reason..nose can't give u 50 back to back or 300 pts. in a week.

[@DeCurtaRican]

There were many similarities between Bird and King. King was the better athlete, Bird was a better passer. King could score in traffic better than any player ever, including Magic, Jordan or Shaq. That's the most amazing thing about him, besides that laser-precise jumper of his. He got off shots that no other player could get off.

[@xyzabc123117]

GREAT

[@yourontheair]

great

[@christophercox1795]

Bernard was simply cutthroat would give anybody and I mean anybody the business for some reason doesn't get the credit he deserves

[@michaelbelfer1069]

Tell you what, Bird was the greatest small forward of all time but if Bernard hadn't blown out his knee in the mid 80's, it might have been King #1, Bird#2.

[@buckcubmandingo6772]

King didn't have Bird's all round offensive game. Plus Bird was a better rebounder & team defender.

[@Salvatore1268]

when real knicks fans not the nacho and cheese crowd saw the beloved knicks

[@SniffyPoo]

Why was the camera angle so low in 1984 Madison Square Garden?

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

Because you had to sit on the floor with your camera, or at a low table. Back in the early 1980s you could easily score tickets right behind the basket next to the action with very little difficulty.

[@mdteletom1288]

@@raygordonteacheschess5501 It's a good thing you teach chess and not TV. This is the camera for the MSG network. All of the home games were televised at this angle.

[@DeCurtaRican]

I believe Ben “Benji” Wilson’s game would have been a lot like Bernard King’s, only with better low post rebounding. #RIP

[@marzilyas]

the knicks games from this period are shown from such a low overhead point of view. never seen anything else like it.

[@justletmeuseit]

man i hate the camera angle, makes the court look all squished together and i can't see the spacing as well

[@BasketballJones48021]

Great ECSF Peak Bernard King was out of this world and Larry even better, amazing battle.

[@user-xe5cg7vy9f]

Folks of this generation just don't know how much of a problem Bernard King was in his time in the league..there was a lot of tough fowards at this time,,Larry Bird..DOC..Terry Cummings..Alex English..Marques Johnson to name a few and Bernard King gave all of them the business The King Of NY

[@joshuajayden77]

I seen a little euro step.

[@youtuber3328]

bird is the #6 best player ever

[@CLewey44]

If King were healthy, who knows how great the Knicks would have been with Ewing in the middle. I think it would have been NYKs in the late 80s winning instead of Detroit and King would be in that conversation as a top 10 or 15 guy.

[@KRHEE]

.... so who won the game....

[@ianwilson4483]

Can someone please get me the averages of Bird for this series. Points, rebounds and assists. Down to the decimals. Thanks.

[@mdteletom1288]

Look it up, basketballreference.com

[@acornsucks2111]

Bird was not a physical explosive player and had trouble against those. In a finesse game, he was unstoppable.

[@justletmeuseit]

adjust for inflation but still...

[@buicklincoln]

Unlike Bird, King had to do it without Hall of Famers on his frontline. Parrish and McHale made Bird's life easier.

[@xyzabc123117]

HE SHOT OVER EVERYONE

[@vegaed56]

The bird!!!!

[@christophercox1795]

Low post master

[@vaughnlewis1953]

Bernard 👑

[@smswaff1]

One name, one man, the best.... Larry Bird . King was nothing more than a shooter.. fast break, two of his own players under the board and he goes all the way in for the bucket. Selfish.

[@klubkid46]

+s smswaff and he was gay,fuck ny knicks.

[@smswaff1]

oh wow man...this day an age, his being gay has no bearing on his ability to play Bball or any sport for that matter...sorry to disagree with you on that subject, but your totally wrong.. later!

[@smswaff1]

but i do agree with "fuk the ny knicks" lol

[@Dontdoittoyoself]

+s smswaff Maybe you could've done a better job. He's in the zone and sometimes you have to be who you are.

[@smswaff1]

He would have scored a 1000 pts on me, the first quarter..lol..

[@youtuber3328]

michael jordan wasn't quite as legendary as kareem abdul-jabbar oscar robertson wilt chamberlain and bill russell

[@lengabella6964]

Kinda biased tape all BK

[@a-ddaigrepont3375]

bird killed dat black boy

[@nomedigaasi]

Bernard King could shoot but NEVER played defense!

[@jamesh1369]

You don't know what you're talking about, King was an very good defender.

[@JardoniJovonovich]

Bullshit ask Julius Erving