Bernard King
(Born 1956)
Hall of Fame Induction: 2013
Card Shown:
2014-15 Panini Flawless
Hall of Fame
Position: SF
Height: 6’7″
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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.
Awards and Honors
- King was a three-time SEC Player of the Year during his college basketball career at the University of Tennessee.
- Bernard was a four-time NBA All-Star in 1982, 1984, 1985, and 1991. This is somewhat remarkable in that his torn ACL threatened to end his career between these all-star appearances. King worked five hours a day, six days a week, for nearly two years with his physical therapist to make his way back to all-star status.
- During his NBA career, King was named to the 1977-78 All-Rookie Team, the All-NBA First Team twice, the All-NBA Second Team once, and the All-NBA third team once.
- At the conclusion of the 1980-81 NBA season, Bernard was honored as the first-ever recipient of the NBA Comeback Player of the Year award.
- King led the NBA in scoring in 1984-85 with an average of 32.9 points per game. Larry Bird (28.7 ppg) and Michael Jordan (28.2) finished second and third in scoring that season.
Points of Interest
- Bernard was drafted by the New Jersey Nets and also played for the Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, and Washington Bullets during his 16-year NBA career that included two full seasons missed because of injuries.
- In 1984, King had a historic playoff series as he led the Knicks to victory over the Detroit Pistons in a first-round series. He scored over 40 points in four of the games and 36 points in the other as the Knicks defeated the Pistons 4-1.
- Bernard scored 50 points in back-to-back games on the road against the San Antonio Spurs on January 31, 1984 and the next night against the Dallas Mavericks (see the video below) as the Knicks won both games.
- Bernard’s younger brother Albert King played in the NBA for nine seasons and averaged 12.1 points per game.
- King finished his NBA career with averages of 22.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. Bernard wasn’t just a scorer who took a lot of shots, but an extremely accurate shooter, finishing five consecutive seasons from 1980-81 through 1984-85 with shooting percentages of 58.8%, 56.6%, 52.8%, 57.2%, and 53.0%.
Statistics
Bernard King Statistics
provided by Basketball-Reference.com