During ESPN’s 30 for 30: When The Garden Was Eden, viewers were treated to rare footage of Knicks legend Willis Reed fighting the Los Angeles Lakers. And by fighting the Los Angeles Lakers, I mean he actually fought the entire team. Like he went up and down their bench, blasting people with haymakers.
For years, we heard about this story but no one ever knew video existed. Until now…
Here’s the New York Times game story from October 19, 1966 (via Deadspin)
In the confusion Reed flattened [Darrell] Imhoff, a 6-foot-10-inch, 220-pound center, with a punch over the left eye. [John] Block, a 6-9, 210-pound rookie center, suffered a bloody nose, which turned out to have been fractured.
Imhoff, holding a bloodied towel to his face, lay sprawled in front of the Laker bench for several minutes while the police restored order among a few of the 15,755 spectators who had run onto the court for a ringside view.
Imhoff needed one stitch to close a cut on his left eyelid. LaRusso, who is 6-8 and weighs 225, later admitted that “Reed hit me a couple good ones.” Both were ejected from the game.
And the best part about this whole thing? Willis Reed was never suspended for it. In fact, he was only fined $50.
[Deadspin]
