Bernard King
During his 14-year playing career, King scored over 19,000 points, won an MVP award, was voted to four All-Star games, and was selected to four All-NBA teams.
BERNARD KING – During his 14-year playing career, King scored over 19,000 points, won an MVP award, was voted to four All-Star games, and was selected to four All-NBA teams. Bernard King was a prolific scorer who played for a number of teams in the NBA. He battled injuries and off-the-court issues to become a superstar in the league. One of the things that Bernard was most proud of was the way he worked his way back from a torn ACL that threatened to end his basketball career. Two grueling years of hard work (where he missed all but six games) proved the naysayers wrong and propelled King back to the top of the game.
BE PATIENT. IT’S NOT EASY. JUST WORTH IT.
• 3-time First-Team all-American
• 3-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year
• 7th Overall Pick in NBA Draft
• 1977-1978-All-Rookie First Team
• 4-time All-Star Selections (1981,1982,84-85, and 1991).
• 2-time All-NBA First Team (1984-’85)
• All-NBA Second Team (1982)
• All-NBA Third team (1991)
• The Sporting News NBA MVP (1984) as voted by the NBA Players
• 1985 Scoring Title with 32.9 PPG average
• Second NBA player to score 50 points in Back-to-Back Games
• Career average of 22.5ppg, 5.8rpg, and 3.3apg
• Shot .500 or better for seven consecutive year
• Number Retired by the University of Tennessee 2007
• Induction into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame 2007
• Induction into the New York Sports Hall of Fame 2005
• James A. Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Induction 2013
BIOGRAPHY
NBA Hall of Famer Bernard King first fell in love with the game of basketball on the playgrounds around his Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., where he grew up. He enrolled at the University of Tennessee in 1974, majoring in communications, and joined that institution’s Division I basketball team. Bernard scored 42 points in his first game at 17 years old. Bernard was a three-time SEC Player of the Year, leading the conference in scoring and rebounding, and was a three-time All-American selection. He left the university in 1977 to embark on a stellar 15-year career in the NBA.
Highlights of his professional basketball career. Including playing for his hometown team, the New York Knicks; the All-Rookie team 1977-78, scoring Back-to-Back 50-point games (the first player to do so since 1964); Four-time All-Star, Two-Time First-Team All-Pro. Scored 60 points during a nationally televised Christmas Day game; NBA Scoring Champ averaged 32.9 points per game in 1984-85. Voted NBA MVP by the NBA players. In the 1983-84 playoffs, he set an NBA record for most points scored in a five-game playoff series, averaging 42.5 points per game against the Detroit Pistons. After that season, he received The Camel Trophy recognizing him as the NBA MVP.
In 1985 King suffered what then was considered a career-ending injury when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), torn cartilage, and broke a bone in a late-season game against the Kansas City Kings. Two of the nation’s top three Orthopedic surgeons told him he would never play again. A third held out hope with the offer of primarily experimental surgery. He opted for the operation and, after spending two years in rehabilitation five hours a day six, days a week. To the sports world’s amazement, Bernard returned; he became the first player to successfully ever return to the game from a torn ACL. To the further astonishment of the basketball world, he reclaimed his place in basketball’s elite circle as an NBA All-Star and All-Pro went on to play for another six seasons. In 1991, at the age of 34, he became the oldest player ever to start in an NBA All-Star Game.
After retiring from the NBA, King worked as a Broadcaster for various television outlets and co-hosted a radio show on WFAN in New York City. Bernard won two Emmys for his broadcasting work and shared three other Emmys. He has appeared on television shows like General Hospital and Miami Vice and had a starring role in the motion picture Fast Break. He appeared on talk shows, David Letterman, Today Show, and many others.
