The Knicks Fix

Willis Reed is cool. He's got that bluesy drawl in his voice that is so deep south it might as well be served with Zatarain's rice and some gumbo. His smile is warm and real. His handshake is firm and genuine and, by the way, huge.

In my first year on this beat I looked forward to getting the chance to talk hoops with John Andraise, whom I grew up listening to and learning from on Knick telecasts. I had ambition to meet John Starks and Walt Frazier, whose respective games I admired. I was excited to meet Patrick Ewing, my all-time favorite Knick.

But I was in awe of The Captain. And yet he greeted me like an old friend.

Reed is retiring from his position as an executive with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets after this season. The Hornets honored him at halftime of the game against the Knicks on Saturday night and one of his parting gifts was an ATV. An odd retirement gift for a 6-foot, 9-inch 64 year old man. But Reed is an outdoorsman, a hunter and a fisherman. He loved the ATV. And he plans to stay retired.

“This is it, I’m going fishing," Reed said. "I’ve got an ATV and a fishing rod and I’ve got three ponds on my property that I can go fishing on.”

He lives in north Louisiana, where Karl Malone, another well-known outdoorsman, also resides. One reporter joked that Malone isn't known to be a good shot.

“I watch everybody who’s got a gun," Reed said with a booming laugh. "I don’t care who they are. I generally walk behind the guy with a gun, not in front of them!”

Reed's property wasn't affected by Hurricane Katrina. But that doesn't mean Reed wasn't affected by the devastation to his beloved state. Reed got involved in the clean-up efforts and was an active part of the Hornets' "Hoops for Homes" initiative to help rebuild New Orleans.

In this photo, Reed (right) and fellow former NBAer Artis Gilmore are offering some hands-on assistance. Reed and Gilmore joined Bob Lanier, Bob Pettit and Bill Walton in the project.

Though Reed will be retired, he will be active in working with the NBA for next year's all-star game, which is tentatively scheduled to be in New Orleans. It's been a touchy subject this season and Reed doesn't deny it will be a challenge to get The Big Easy ready for such a huge event.

“New Orleans was not what it was, so you just don’t know what the outcome is going to be," he said. " . . . But there’s always tomorrow and tomorrow is always hope.”

We also asked him the obvious, what do you think of Eddy Curry, the next generation of Knick big men. Did Willis think he could be included in the prestigious club?

“As I’ve told you before and I’ll still tell you, Patrick’s the greatest center of all time for the Knicks; I was a power forward playing center," Reed said, smiling. "Patrick was a true center and I think Curry’s a center.”

As for Isiah Thomas, an outsider running the Knicks, Reed had only compliments to offer.

“I think Isiah’s done a nice job," he said. " . . . I think he’s done a pretty good job with the kids and if everybody was healthy I think it would be a different situation for them.”