NBA Legend Opens Up About ‘Feared’ Knicks Star

Only a certain New York Knicks star could clip the Human Highlight Reel.

Dominique Wilkins spoke about the respectful but mutually fearful relationship he carried with Bernard King when speaking with fellow NBA veterans Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on their web series “All the Smoke.” Asked by the duo how he and his 1980s compatriots in the Eastern Conference would handle the Western stars of the 2000s, Wilkins remarked that King, a Knick for four seasons (1982-87) would’ve given them a special edge.

“Nobody ever talks about this guy,” Wilkins said. “I’ve never feared anybody that I ever played against. That’s the only man that scared the hell out of me … He’s getting 40 and there ain’t s*** you can do about it.”

Wilkins said he “couldn’t sleep at night” before his Atlanta Hawks took on King’s Knicks and others. To his point, King posted 23 games with at least 40 points as a New Yorker, second in Knicks franchise history to only Patrick Ewing.

“Coach used to say, ‘when you’re guarding Bernard, meet him at halfcourt,'” Wilkins recalled. “I was like I’m not beating him at halfcourt … If you didn’t meet him at halfcourt, you were like this (turns head) he’s gone.”

The duo’s relationship … or lack thereof … took on a new layer when King was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. When King asked Wilkins about the induction process despite carrying “no type of friendship.” It was only then that Wilkins learned that King was equally scared of Hawks great, something that he felt separated his era from the modern, friendlier game.

“It just shows you that none of them guys let them get close to you when we were competitors,” Wilkins said. “That’s what made the game more fun and it made you compete even harder. You never knew what was going on in his head.”

Despite his relatively brief stay in New York, King continues to carry a regal presence in the Knicks’ record books: to this day, King is tied for second in points per game (26.5 with current star Jalen Brunson) and seventh in field goal percentage. He also holds the team’s single-season record in scoring average, putting up 32.9 a game during the 1984-85 campaign.

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