Bernard King
Encyclopedia
Bernard King is a retired American professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player at the small forward
Small forward
The small forward, or colloquially known as three, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically somewhat shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers, but on occasion are just as tall...

 position in the NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

. He played 14 seasons with the New Jersey Nets
New Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

, Utah Jazz
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

, Golden State Warriors
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

, New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 and the Washington Bullets
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...

.

NBA career

Bernard King attended college at the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...

 and was selected 7th overall in the 1977 NBA Draft
1977 NBA Draft
The 1977 NBA Draft was the 31st annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on June 10, 1977 before the 1977–78 season. In this draft, 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players...

 by the New York Nets
New Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

, who months later relocated from Uniondale, New York
Uniondale, New York
Uniondale is a hamlet as well as a suburb of New York City in Nassau County, New York, United States, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead. The population was 24,759 at the 2010 United States Census.-Geography:...

 to New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 and became known as the New Jersey Nets
New Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

.

At 6'7" and 205 pounds, Bernard King epitomized the NBA small forward
Small forward
The small forward, or colloquially known as three, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically somewhat shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers, but on occasion are just as tall...

 of the 1980s. With his long arms and quick release, King was an explosive runner on the fast-break and a tremendous scorer. King led the NBA in scoring in 1985 with 32.9 points per game and was selected twice to the All-NBA First Team and three times to the NBA All-Star Game.

In 1977-78
1977-78 NBA season
The 1977–78 NBA season was the 32nd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Washington Bullets winning the NBA Championship, beating the Seattle SuperSonics 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.-Notable occurrences:...

, 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
1983-84 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:*Most Valuable Player: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics*Rookie of the Year: Ralph Sampson, Houston Rockets*Defensive Player of the Year: Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks...

, earning the first of his back-to-back All-NBA First Team selections.

On January 31, 1984, as a Knick, King made history by becoming the first player since 1964 to score at least 50 points in consecutive games: scoring 50 points on 20 for 23 shooting with 10 free throws in a 117-113 Knicks victory over the San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....

 on January 30, and following it up with another 50 point performance in another road victory - this time in a 105-98 win over the Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...

 - on 20 for 28 shooting and 10 free throws. The next season, on Christmas Day, 1984, King lit up the New Jersey Nets for 60 points, 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 knee injury - a torn anterior cruciate ligament
Anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament is a cruciate ligament which is one of the four major ligaments of the human knee. In the quadruped stifle , based on its anatomical position, it is referred to as the cranial cruciate ligament.The ACL originates from deep within the notch of the distal femur...

 in his right knee, while planting his straight leg before jumping causing the knee to bend, against the then-Kansas City Kings
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...

 in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

 on March 23, 1985. It required major reconstruction, causing King to miss all of the 1985-86 season
1985-86 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics*Rookie of the Year: Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks*Defensive Player of the Year: Alvin Robertson, San Antonio Spurs...

 and denying his explosive speed to the basket. Despite averaging 22.7 points per game during his first six games back, it was clear that King's explosiveness was diminished, and this prompted the New York Knicks to release him at the end of the 1987 season
1986-87 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:* Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers* Rookie of the Year: Chuck Person, Indiana Pacers* Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers...

. However, King would have a very successful comeback with the Washington Bullets
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...

, improving his scoring average each year with the squad and returning to the All-Star Game one last time in 1991, his final full season in the NBA. After a year-and-a-half hiatus and a brief 32-game stint with the New Jersey Nets
New Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 at the end of the '93 season
1992-93 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:*Most Valuable Player: Charles Barkley, Phoenix Suns*Rookie of the Year: Shaquille O'Neal, Orlando Magic*Defensive Player of the Year: Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets...

, knee
Knee
The knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the fibula and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest joint in the human body and is very complicated. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as...

 problems forced Bernard King into retirement. King retired with 19,655 points in 874 games, for an average of 22.5 points per game during his career. At the time of his retirement, King ranked 16th on the all-time NBA scoring list.

Awards and recognition

On February 13, 2007, Bernard King's number 53 was retired at the halftime of the Tennessee-Kentucky men's college basketball Game at Thompson-Boling Arena
Thompson-Boling Arena
Thompson-Boling Arena is multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The arena opened in 1987. It is home to the Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Vols basketball teams. Since 2008, it has been home to the Lady Vol volleyball team. It is named after B....

 in Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

. His jersey number was the first jersey number retired by the Volunteers, who later retired the number of Ernie Grunfeld
Ernie Grunfeld
Ernest "Ernie" Grunfeld is the General Manager of the Washington Wizards. He was also once a professional basketball player...

, King's former teammate. The late 70s Tennessee men's basketball team was known as the "Ernie and Bernie Show" (in reference to Ernie Grunfeld
Ernie Grunfeld
Ernest "Ernie" Grunfeld is the General Manager of the Washington Wizards. He was also once a professional basketball player...

 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
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...

 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 2004, King was nominated for election into the Basketball Hall Of Fame
Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...

. However, he has not yet been elected. Some say his candidacy is handicapped by the relatively small number of games he played (874) and the abundance of high-scoring small forward
Small forward
The small forward, or colloquially known as three, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically somewhat shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers, but on occasion are just as tall...

s of the era such as Adrian Dantley
Adrian Dantley
Adrian Delano Dantley is a retired American basketball player who played 15 seasons in the NBA, including seven as a member of the Utah Jazz. A forward/guard and six-time NBA All-Star, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008...

 and Mark Aguirre
Mark Aguirre
Mark Anthony Aguirre is a retired American basketball player in the National Basketball Association. Aguirre played from 1981–1994 and won two championships with the Detroit Pistons after being sent to Detroit from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Adrian Dantley...

, of whom only Dantley has been elected to the Hall-of-Fame.

See also


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK