Bernard King

Early life and college

Bernard King was born on December 4, 1956, in Brooklyn, New York. He developed his basketball skills on the playgrounds of Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. King used the outdoor courts in New York City to refine his game and as an escape from his surroundings. Reflecting on this time, King noted how the parks provided a space where he could focus entirely on basketball, teaching him discipline and motivating him to pursue greatness.

King attended the University of Tennessee, where he had a successful collegiate basketball career. His time in college prepared him for his future in professional basketball.

NBA career

At and 205 pounds, King was an explosive, high-scoring small forward utilizing long arms and a quick release. King was a tremendous scorer. In the season, he led the NBA in scoring with 32.9 points per game.

New Jersey Nets

After playing college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers, the New York Nets selected King with the seventh overall pick in the 1977 NBA draft, Months later, the Nets relocated from Uniondale, New York, to New Jersey and became known as the New Jersey Nets.

In 1977–78, his rookie season, King set a New Jersey Nets franchise record for most points scored in a season with 1,909, at 24.2 points per game. For his efforts, he was named to the NBA all-rookie first team and placed third in NBA Rookie of the Year voting, behind Walter Davis and Marques Johnson. He would 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

King played for the Utah Jazz in the 1979–80 season and averaged 9.3 points per game in 19 games.

Golden State Warriors

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 such as 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, King was traded to the New York Knicks in exchange for Micheal Ray Richardson.

New York Knicks

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 Dallas 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 Mavericks.

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.

At the peak of his career, however, King suffered a devastating injury to his right leg while planting it under the hoop attempting to block a dunk by Kansas City King Reggie Theus on March 23, 1985. The injury included a torn anterior cruciate ligament, torn meniscus, and lateral condyle fracture of the femur, 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

King spent the 1987–88 season climbing back to his former stature as a scorer with the Washington Bullets. That season, during which King, fellow all-star journeyman Moses Malone, and Jeff Malone teamed up to form a formidable trio, would be the only time Washington made the playoffs during King's tenure. In the first round, the Bullets lost a contested five-game series 3–2 against the up-and-coming Detroit Pistons, who would go on to make the NBA Finals.

On November 3, 1990, King scored 44 points in a win over Michael Jordan and the Bulls, which was the most points King had scored in a game since his devastating 1985 knee injury. On December 29, in a game against the Denver Nuggets, King scored a season high 52 points in a 161–133 victory. It was the most points a Washington player had scored since the team moved from Baltimore in 1972. That season, King was selected to his fourth all-star team.

From 1989 to 1991, King averaged 20-plus points in three consecutive seasons. His scoring average peaked at 28.4 points per game at age 34 in 1991, which included ten games where King scored more than 40 points.

New Jersey Nets

After a year-and-a-half hiatus due to yet another knee injury, King returned for a 32-game stint with the New Jersey Nets at the end of the 1992–93 season, until knee problems forced him to retire from the NBA permanently.

NBA career statistics

King 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.

Regular season

|- | 79 || || 39.1 || .479 || || .677 || 9.5 || 2.4 || 1.5 || .5 || 24.2 |- | 82 || || 34.9 || .522 || || .564 || 8.2 || 3.6 || 1.4 || .5 || 21.6 |- | 19 || || 22.1 || .518 || || .540 || 4.6 || 2.7 || .4 || .2 || 9.3 |- | 81 || || 36.0 || .588 || .333 || .703 || 6.8 || 3.5 || .9 || .4 || 21.9 |- | 79 || 77 || 36.2 || .566 || .200 || .705 || 5.9 || 3.6 || 1.0 || .3 || 23.2 |- | 68 || 68 || 32.5 || .528 || .000 || .722 || 4.8 || 2.9 || 1.3 || .2 || 21.9 |- | 77 || 76 || 34.6 || .572 || .000 || .779 || 5.1 || 2.1 || 1.0 || .2 || 26.3 |- | 55 || 55 || 37.5 || .530 || .100 || .772 || 5.8 || 3.7 || 1.3 || .3 || style="background:#cfecec;"|32.9* |- | 6 || 4 || 35.7 || .495 || || .744 || 5.3 || 3.2 || .3 || .0 || 22.7 |- | 69 || 38 || 29.6 || .501 || .167 || .762 || 4.1 || 2.8 || .7 || .1 || 17.2 |- | 81 || 81 || 31.6 || .477 || .167 || .819 || 4.7 || 3.6 || .8 || .2 || 20.7 |- | 82 || 82 || 32.8 || .487 || .130 || .803 || 4.9 || 4.6 || .6 || .1 || 22.4 |- | 64 || 64 || 37.5 || .472 || .216 || .790 || 5.0 || 4.6 || .9 || .3 || 28.4 |- | 32 || 2 || 13.4 || .514 || .286 || .684 || 2.4 || .6 || .3 || .1 || 7.0 |- class="sortbottom" | 874 || 547 || 33.7 || .518 || .172 || .730 || 5.8 || 3.3 || 1.0 || .3 || 22.5 |- class="sortbottom" | 4 || 1 || 21.0 || .474 || || .692 || 4.3 || 2.3 || .8 || .5 || 11.3

Playoffs

|- | 2 || || 40.5 || .500 || || .417 || 5.5 || 3.5 || 2.0 || .0 || 26.0 |- | 6 || || 30.7 || .577 || .333 || .800 || 4.0 || 2.2 || .3 || .0 || 23.5 |- | 12 || || 39.8 || .574 || .000 || .756 || 6.2 || 3.0 || 1.2 || .5 || 34.8 |- | 5 || 4 || 33.6 || .491 || || .810 || 2.2 || 1.8 || .6 || .0 || 13.8 |- | 3 || 1 || 8.0 || .571 || || || .3 || .0 || .3 || .0 || 2.7 |- class="sortbottom" | 28 || 5 || 33.4 || .559 || .250 || .729 || 4.3 || 2.3 || .9 || .2 || 24.5

Awards and recognition

At the age of 24, King won the NBA 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.

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 Grunfeld and King) and is viewed by many 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.

In 2013, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with inductees such as Rick Pitino and Gary Payton.

Broadcasting career

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.

Acting career

King made an appearance in Miami Vice as Matt Ferguson, son of Judge Roger Ferguson (played by Bill Russell), a basketball star with the fictitious Florida Sunblazers in the episode "The Fix". He also appeared in the 1979 movie Fast Break (with Reb Brown).

Personal life

Legal Troubles

In July 1977, a month after being drafted by the Nets, King was arrested and charged with burglary for breaking into a UT athletics building to steal a television set. He had earlier been suspended from the Tennessee team after being arrested for marijuana possession (later acquitted), drunk driving, and resisting arrest (all later dropped), which stemmed from an arrest after police were called by a woman who said a man was trying to break into her apartment, and upon arrival they found King in the hallway.

In December 1978, King was arrested by the NYPD while sleeping in his car with "less than $10 worth" of cocaine on hand, and was charged with several misdemeanors, later dropped.

In January 1980, King was arrested in Salt Lake City after complaint of forcible sexual assault by a woman. Facing a possible 10-year sentence, he took multiple lie detector tests to support his assertion that he had been so intoxicated he had no recollection of the events in question. That June, he would plead guilty to a reduced charge of attempted forcible sexual abuse, and received a fine and suspended sentence.

In his 2017 autobiography, King would say that he battled alcohol addiction in the late 1970s, and that it was "the darkest period of my life". Following his early-1980 arrest, he spent a month at a California rehab center, and then sought help through Alcoholics Anonymous.

After his playing career was over, more troubles followed. In August 1994, an intoxicated King was arrested in New York and charged with assaulting a 22-year-old woman in his apartment, after allegedly grabbing her around the neck in an altercation (for which she was treated for bruises at a local hospital). In October 2004, King was again arrested in New York for battery of his wife Shana, who told authorities he had pushed her to the ground three times; the incident left her black and blue with bruises on her eye and swelling on her forehead. The charges were dropped after King agreed to marriage counseling sessions, but the incident cost King a promotional relationship with local property developer Bruce Ratner, as well as resulting in his name being removed as an honoree of the Brooklyn Public Library.

References

References

1. Lawrence, Mitch. (September 8, 2013). "Basketball Hall of Fame doors finally open for Knicks legend Bernard King". New York Daily News.
2. "Julius "Dr. J" Erving Plays Hit & Run on CenterStage".
3. (2017-11-13). "Bernard King on Growing Up in Brooklyn and Writing His New Book".
4. Villanueva, Virgil. (2024-10-05). "The origins of Bernard King's quick release that dominated the NBA: "I played center in high school; I had to find a way to get the shot off"".
5. "The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :: Bernard King".
6. "1977 NBA Draft, First Round". NBA.com.
7. "Legends profile: Bernard King".
8. "1977-78 NBA Awards Voting".
9. Hubbard, Jan. (February 2, 1984). "King's 50 beat Mavericks, 105-98". [[The Dallas Morning News]].
10. Berkow, Ira. (February 2, 1984). "The Incandescent King". New York Times.
11. Goldpaper, Sam. (December 26, 1984). "King Scores Knick-Record 60 Points in Loss to Nets". The New York Times.
12. "Bernard King: Comeback 'defines my career'".
13. "1988 NBA Eastern Conference First Round - Bullets vs. Pistons".
14. Aldridge, David. (November 4, 1990). "BULLETS RISE TO OCCASION AS KING'S 44 NAIL BULLS". The Washington Post.
15. "Bullets 161, Nuggets 133".
16. "How Many Times Did Bernard King Score More Than 40 Points in 1990-91".
17. (September 3, 1993). "Bernard King Retires After 14 Seasons in the NBA".
18. "Bernard King: The NBA's Underappreciated Legend".
19. "NBA & ABA Comeback Player of the Year Award Winners". basketball-reference.com.
20. [http://utsports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/021207aad.html University of Tennessee Retires Bernard King's Number] {{Webarchive. link. (August 20, 2008 @ UTsports.com)
21. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100114062706/http://utsports.tv/featured/tipoff-club-bernard-king-speech/ Bernard King speech to Tennessee Tip-Off Club], UTsports.com
22. link. (December 30, 2007 , [[TNT (U.S. TV network)). TNT]], accessed March 9, 2008
23. [http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1596944-basketball-hall-of-fame-2013-complete-list-of-inductees-to-naismith-memorial]. bleacherreprot.com
24. (July 11, 1977). "Bernard King Arrested". Lakeland Ledger.
25. "Bernard King". Signet.
26. (July 22, 1977). "King's Arrests Mystify His Friends and Coaches". Washington Post.
27. (December 19, 1978). "Nets' King Is Arrested on Driving and Drug Counts". New York Times.
28. (January 3, 1980). "King, Forward for Jazz, Arrested on Sex Charge; Acquired From Nets". New York Times.
29. (March 23, 1981). "King Comes Back After Skid to Rock Bottom". Toledo Blade.
30. (June 4, 1980). "Nba Hopes to Discover Dawkins-Proof Boards". Washington Post.
31. (June 5, 1980). "King Pleads Guilty, Escapes Prison Term; Still Faces Drug Charge". New York Times.
32. (November 7, 2017). "Game Face: A Lifetime of Hard-Earned Lessons On and Off the Basketball Court". Da Capo Press.
33. (August 11, 1994). "Bernard King arrested for assault". United Press International.
34. (August 11, 1994). "BERNARD KING RELEASED AFTER ARREST FOR ASSAULT ON FEMALE". Greensboro News and Record.
35. (October 24, 2004). "FORMER KNICK BUSTED; KING BEAT WIFE: COPS". NY Post.
36. (October 24, 2004). "Police Bust Ex-Knicks Star in Wife Feud". NY Daily News.
37. (April 8, 2013). "On the Fame of a King".
38. (October 29, 2004). "Key Ratner booster accused of spousal abuse". Brooklyn Paper.
39. (September 25, 2018). "Bernard King". University of Tennessee.