Grambling, New York Knick legend Willis Reed dies at 80

Tim Owens

2 years ago

FILE - New York Knicks NBA basketball player Willis Reed celebrates in the dressing room after the Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 113-99 to win the NBA championship in New York, May 8, 1970. Willis Reed, who dramatically emerged from the locker room minutes before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to spark the New York Knicks to their first championship and create one of sports’ most enduring examples of playing through pain, died Tuesday, March 21, 2023. He was 80. Reed's death was announced by the National Basketball Retired Players Association, which confirmed it through his family.(AP Photo/File)

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — Grambling State and NBA legend Willis Reed passed away at the age of 80 on Tuesday.

Reed won two NBA championships with the New York Knicks (1970, 1973), and was named Finals MVP in both series. The seven-time All Star has his number 19 retired, and it hangs in the rafters at Madison Square Garden. Reed was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.

During his time in college, Reed led Grambling to an NAIA National Title and three Southwestern Athletic Conference championships. Reed scored 2,280 career points, and averaged 26.6 points per game and 21.3 rebounds per game during his senior year at Grambling.

Grambling honored Reed by naming the court after him in January of 2022. He not only his name across the hardwood, but also now has the tunnel named after him as well as his number 50 retired hanging from the rafters.

Reed is listed as one of the top 50 players in NBA history.