With age i realize i'm becoming a lot more old school. That's why i believe Bernard King belongs in the Basketball Hall of Fame. I was too young to remember the Bernie and Ernie (Grunfeld) show while he was at the University of Tennessee. But i do remember a lot of his NBA exploits. This man was a scoring machine in every sense of the word. Damn near unstoppable. I believe that Michael Jordan never wins a scoring title if Bernard never gets hurt. The moment i remember in particular is when he torched the Detroit Pistons, in a five game playoff series to the tune of 44 points a game. Correct me if i'm wrong. It made head coach Hubie Brown look like a genius at times. A one man wrecking crew, I always joked that it was Hubie's easiest coaching job. Imagine the sideline huddle where Hubie says, "just give it to Bernard". I know that series alone probably ran Kelly Tripucka out of Detroit. He just couldn't handle him on the defensive end. Bernard wasn't the greatest defender either, but coach Brown had a way of hiding that. I really hate the fact a lot of people overlooked how good of a player he was, as he was overshadowed by the Larry Bird's, Julius Erving's, and Magic Johnson's of the world. Call it bad timing. Another bad break, almost in a literal sense was the knee injury he suffered in 1985 i believe. I would've loved to see what damage a healthy King and Patrick Ewing could've done together. It's time to give the man his due and finally elect him into the Hall of Fame, he deserves it. Sometimes i wonder if i'm the only one that carries the torch for his election. I know i'd like to see him in.
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