2.) C Willis Reed
The Captain played his entire 10-year career with the Knicks and is one of the best players in the history of the franchise. He was a seven-time All-Star, making it the first seven years of his career. He averaged 18.7 points and 12.9 rebounds per game despite the last three seasons of his career being significantly less productive than the first seven. He was also inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 1982.
When taking a look at the Knicks’ franchise leaderboards, you will see Reed’s name plastered across it. He is top-10 in 17 different categories that Basketball-Reference offers, including points, rebounds, games and minutes played.
Reed will live on as one of the greatest Knicks to ever take the court, and will forever be remembered for his actions during Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals.
Reed required an injection in his thigh that had a torn muscle in which he suffered in Game 5 of the series. No one knew if he would play, but moments before tip-off Reed limped out of the tunnel in one of the most memorable moments in basketball history. With the championship on the title, Reed found it in him to get out there and inspire his teammates to take home the title, as the Knicks defeated the Lakers for their first of two titles.
One of the players he inspired said, “I saw the whole Laker team standing around staring at this man. When I saw that, when they stopped warming up, something told me we might have these guys!” That man also had one of the greatest NBA Finals performances in history, scoring 36 points with 19 assists and finds himself as the No.2 player on our list.
Next: The Greatest Knick!