Knicks legend Bernard King takes a shot at some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: What do you think of Knicks versus Celtics?
A: It’s going to be a great matchup, the regular season doesn’t matter at all, and I think we’re ideally positioned to potentially, even though we don’t have much rest coming out of a tough series against Detroit, I think it’s going to be a tough matchup for Boston, and I think that we will have an opportunity to win in Boston.
Q: How do the Knicks beat the Celtics?
A: Pressure all passes that are going to be made. If you pressure all passes at the entry point, that is going to be very difficult to find an offensive player when he comes off of a screen, make sure you pick up [Jayson] Tatum early on so he doesn’t pull up in transition and hit the 3-point shot. We have to rebound well, and we have to get back on defense. And more contribution from the bench as well. [Miles] McBride is going to have to be consistent, we’re going to need [Cameron] Payne to be consistent.
Q: So you believe the Knicks can win this series?
A: You always believe you’re going to win, you never doubt that. And so yes, I do believe the Knicks can win this series. … I’m not looking past the Celtics, I’m not saying the Knicks are going to win the championship, what I’m saying is they’re well positioned to win this series.
The Knicks are a great team. They came in third in the standings. I just think that the matchups are very suitable for the Knicks to win this series. You have to make sure you control Derrick White. If you control him, then you control [Jaylen] Brown and Tatum to a large extent.
Q: Jalen Brunson is your favorite Knick?
A: I had an opportunity to meet several of the Knicks early this year at a charity event. I said to him: “One of the beauties of your game beyond your basketball IQ, I love how you have mastered the art of scoring. To do that, you have to understand defense, and you understand it very well.” I felt that I arrived at a point in my career where I mastered the art of scoring, I was 27 at the time. Brunson is 28. What he’s doing is truly phenomenal at the position of having to run the team and also making sure everyone’s involved in the offense, and still be there at the end to take the shots that matter, and make them. And he feels no pressure whatsoever. That last play for example …
Q: His three to eliminate the Pistons.
A: I’m going to break that play down for a moment. He gets the ball at half-court, and [Mikal] Bridges comes up guarded by Cade [Cunningham] to look like he’s going to set a screen, and because he fades, Cade can’t double-team Brunson because that’s going to leave Bridges open for a 3-point shot. So now Brunson is going one-on-one, and the defender [Ausar Thompson] is leaning to his left, and Brunson puts his right arm out and he drives left. So the defender’s off-balance, he already has the lead position on the drive. It’s one of the greatest moves I’ve ever seen in basketball. When he makes that drive and Thompson does not have positioning on his feet properly so he doesn’t have the spacing to slide properly, so when Brunson makes that drive and Thompson tries to catch up, check out what he did — he patted the ball between his legs with his left hand, took it with his right hand, and Thompson is still sliding left! He created separation of five feet, it was amazing … pull up for the jumper with his strong hand, his left hand, and shoots the ball, and it’s too late for Thompson to recover.
That is one of the greatest moves I’ve ever seen in basketball.
Q: Is Brunson on a Hall of Fame trajectory?
A: I’m not one to project what happens six, seven years from now. All I know is that he has decided that he’s going to be a great player. And when you make that decision, that means that you’re making all the sacrifices in the offseason necessary to take your skill sets to your game to another level. I see no reason why he will not continue to build and sustain this for the remainder of his career … he grew up around the game with his dad [assistant coach Rick] … he’s great for the city, he’s great for this organization, he’s great for young kids that watch the game.
Q: To be as clutch as he is and as you were, what is required of that moment?
A: I’ll take you back to the fifth game in Detroit (first round of the 1984 playoffs) for example. No air conditioning in the building, I’m playing with two dislocated fingers, I’m playing with the flu. I did not attend shootaround. I entered the team bus, I said, “I’m sick, I’m sorry, but I have the flu,” and [assistant coach] Rick Pitino had the flu as well. I went back upstairs to my room. But I’m not going to let the team down, I know I’m going to play that night, no matter what it takes, I can’t let my team down.
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However in that huddle, with the game on the line, [Coach] Hubie [Brown] is executing a play — for Billy Cartwright. And I’m sitting there, and I’m averaging 42 points a game. I have never in my lifetime questioned a coach on any level. But I’m sorry, when the season’s on the line, and the game’s on the line, I want the ball. Period. And I yelled out: “Hubie. Do I have the right to take the ball myself?” And he finally looked up and he said, “Yeah.” What I’m telling him when I asked him that question is “I’m breaking your play.” So the ball’s not going to go to Billy Cartwright. It’s going to me. Earl Cureton is defending me, in the heat of that moment, he says, “Come on and bring it.” (laugh).
So the point I’m making is when you have someone that has the willingness to accept the challenge of providing for the team and scoring a basket when needed, when the game is on the line, when the season is on the line, you got a special player in Brunson. He’s willing to accept the pressure. And there’s no pressure. You don’t feel pressure in that moment when you take on that challenge.
Q: You spoke with KAT (Karl-Anthony Towns) too at that charity event?
A: He loves playing in New York. I said to him, “I knew that you would come here and do very well, because this stage means a lot to you.” Obviously we know he’s the best-shooting big man in basketball today in terms of 3-point shooting. With his skill sets and his passing ability as a big man, it’s amazing. So he has an all-around game, he can put the ball on the floor, he can post, he hits the 3-point shot, he can hit the jump shot, he rebounds and he can defend.
Q: What do you like about OG Anunoby?
A: He’s tough. He’s a great defender. He comes to play every single night. He plays to win. And he doesn’t mind taking on whether it’s a frontcourt player or it’s a guard, he can guard all over the entire floor, any player. He can deliver points for you as well. OG’s going to be extremely important in this series matching up against the frontline of the Boston Celtics.
Q: What do you like about Josh Hart?
A: Oh the toughness. To think that Hart is only what, 6-[foot]-4, 6-5? He can get double digits in rebounds, it’s amazing, he’ll go in there against anyone. His tenacity, his toughness is what I really enjoy about his game, and he meshes very well obviously with Brunson, and he’s very effective in doing that.
Q: Mikal Bridges?
A: Mikal Bridges is a player that’s a great, great jump shooter. And I think that he alleviates a lot of the pressure off of KAT down low when KAT decides to post because that extends the defense out to the 3-point line where Bridges is very effective in shooting from. And he’s also capable of putting the ball on the floor and getting to the basket, and we’re going to certainly need him during the series.
Q: How important will Mitchell Robinson be?
A: It’s very important in terms of this series that the frontline keeps themself out of foul trouble. But Mitchell Robinson, with his shot-blocking capability and his rebounding ability, is going to be very crucial in this series when you have a [Kristaps] Porzingis and you have a frontline that the Celtics have.
Boston has been out for a considerable amount of time. So yes, they’re rested, but when you’re rested, you become rusty. And so I don’t look for their shots to fall early on, and I think that’s an opportunity for us to really pounce on them in the first quarter.
Q: Tom Thibodeau?
A: He’s from the Hubie Brown school. What I mean by that, that’s greatness. You’re looking at greatness as a coach. He’s going to always ensure that his team is well prepared, and they’re going to execute the system, the game plan well. You have to be able to make adjustments that game so that you don’t lose that game. He’s capable of doing that as a coach.
Q: How hostile will the TD Garden be Monday night?
A: The Celtics don’t like the Knicks (laugh). It’s going to be very hostile — you just have to hope they don’t turn the heat up (laugh). I remember during the [1984] series we came in, it was April, and the heat was on in our locker room. Come on now! I know it’s not the old Boston Garden, but I’m just having fun with that comment I just made. They’re going to emotionally support the team as much as possible to get them to a different level, and that’s what fans can do for a ballclub, take them to a different level.
Q: In 1984, what was the rivalry with the Celtics like?
A: It was always a significant rivalry that existed between the Knicks and Celtics. Everyone hated the Celtics (laugh), we didn’t like the Celtics as young players, and it wasn’t a hate toward the city or a hate toward the organization, it was the competitive fire that each team had against one another. We always wanted to beat the Celtics and we never would allow them to beat us in our house.
Q: Game 6 of that Eastern Conference semifinals at the Garden.
A: I remember at the start of the series Cedric Maxwell walked up to the jump-ball circle when we all lined up and shook hands, and he stood in front of my face and he said to me, “Why is it that you look like that?” (laugh) I had my game face on. And I ignored him, and I didn’t say a word. And I think that set the tone with him of what I was all about and how I was going to play throughout that series.
Boston is hoping to close us out in Game 6, and it was very important that we got off to a very good start, and so I came out shooting jump shots to ensure that I can open up the lane and open up the baseline for my other part of my game … we came out very aggressively defensively … we established [Bill] Cartwright in the low post, on the low block, and Rory Sparrow was defending very well in the backcourt … and really the fans helped to carry us to that Game 6 victory.
Q: They were chanting “MVP, MVP, MVP” for you.
A: I won’t forget that (laugh). I think I went out and got 44 in that game. We were never intimidated by the Celtics. We felt that we were on equal footing, regardless of the Hall of Famers they had on that team. We knew that we were on par with them in terms of matchups. Billy Cartwright was a great center, he matched up well with [Robert Parish], Truck Robinson matched up well with Kevin McHale, and so we never felt we were at a disadvantage at any position against that roster.
playoff game against the Celtics in 1984. AP
Q: Didn’t Cornbread (Maxwell) say something about you before the series began after you had averaged 42.6 ppg against the Pistons?
A: Coming out of the Detroit series, every city I’ve ever gone to with the Knicks, I always pick up the local paper, so that I get a feel of the city and culturally what’s happening in that particular city. I picked up the newspaper and on the back page — “The B” — and they spelled it out (laugh) — “The B is not going to score 40 on us.” Hmmm. Quite interesting (laugh). I’m not impacted by that sort of thing. I’m just going to go out and play each minute the same until the horn blows at the end of the game. And nothing is going to change my demeanor, nothing is going to change my approach.
Q: How much trash did [Larry] Bird talk during that series?
A: I’m going to say it very succinctly — you can’t talk trash if 40’s being scored on your head (laugh). Bird and I played against one another for 10 years. We played at the highest level. And I always heard he talked trash, but I never heard him talk some trash, he never spoke trash to me ever. Not once.
against the Celtics in 1984. AP
Q: Cornbread and McHale were on you mostly that series.
A: I had to guard Bird. Don’t ask me why he didn’t guard me. And when you have to play against Bird, who I’ve always said publicly was my toughest player that I’ve ever had to face defending, because he’s 6-10, he can pass over the top of me, I’m 6-7, he can put the ball on the floor, he’s a great rebounder, a great scorer. … During that series, I was at a point in my career where I had mastered the art of scoring. So you were not going to stop me at that point in my career.
Q: Not even with those dislocated middle fingers with a splint on each hand?
A: I was never at 100 percent, but emotionally, and mentally, I took myself to a different place to deal with the pain factor that I felt each and every game and every play.
Q: How painful was losing Game 7 at Boston Garden?
A: It’s something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. Bird outplayed me, it’s very simple, that game.
against the Celtics in 1984. AP
Q: If you could build the perfect basketball player, what one thing would you take from Bernard King?
A: Tenacity. Because if you have a significant and genuine love for the game, then you’re going to work as hard as possible to develop your skill sets at whatever level you’re playing at, whether it’s in youth basketball, in high school or in college or the pros. And that tenacity could take you to different levels of the game. And so if you have that habit formed, you can develop yourself into a tremendous player.
Q: You had a killer instinct. Is that something you’re born with?
A: Nooo, you’re not born with that. That’s something that you develop. It’s a drive, it’s an inner fire that you have inside yourself that you develop because you love something so very much that you want to be very good at it, and you’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that you become highly skilled and spend the necessary time and sacrifice whatever you have to sacrifice to make yourself into the player that you want to be.
Q: Why do the Knicks have such a hold on New York City?
A: It’s a basketball town. You have the Giants, you have the Jets, you have the Yankees, you have the Mets, but New York has always been a basketball town. And when the Knicks do well, New York loves to celebrate that. Historically speaking, it takes everyone back to the time when the Knicks won the championship with Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, [Bill] Bradley, [Dave] DeBusschere and those great teams. It’s a reminder and a reflection of that.
Q: May 8, 1970 (the Willis Game against the Lakers), where were you?
A: In 1970 I was 14 years old (laugh). I was in the ninth grade at the time.
Q: The game was blacked out in New York.
A: It was something that we talked about in the playgrounds. It was something that all of us kids, we emulated the players on the Knicks. So someone would be Walt Frazier or Earl Monroe or Dave DeBusschere, which was my favorite player growing up.
Q: Why was DeBusschere your favorite?
A: I was noted for scoring in my later years in high school, in college, obviously in the pros, but rebounding was my love, I averaged 28 rebounds a game in high school (laugh). I just loved being under the basket, boxing out, grabbing rebounds as Dave DeBusschere did.
Q: What message would you have for Knicks fans?
A: We are New York Knicks Strong.
Q: Can you elaborate on that?
A: That means that we are going to come out and play and represent ourselves as a team, represent ourselves as an organization, represent our fan base, represent the city of New York City. We are New York Knicks Strong, and we are going to play that way. And we’ll demonstrate that on Monday.