Knicks Legend Among Best NBA Players of All Time

It's been 40 years since the New York Knicks had Bernard King lead the league in scoring.

King was the only player in Knicks history to hold that honor until Carmelo Anthony gave him company during the 2012-13 season. That puts King in a unique category of some of the best players in Knicks and NBA history.

Bleacher Report named the top 100 players in NBA history as part of an offseason series and King was introduced on the list at No. 97.

"At 6'7", Bernard King was a walking bucket, dropping 50 burgers before it was somewhat commonplace," Bleacher Report wrote.

"To this day, he is one of 16 players to score 50 at least eight times, and two of those detonations came in back-to-back performances during the early portion of 1984."

"Best known for his half-decade stint with the New York Knicks, King also spent time with the New Jersey Nets, Utah Jazz and Washington Bullets. Though he never enjoyed much playoff success, he came a heartbeat away from joining the 20,000-point club. At the peak of his powers, in the early 1980s, he was a routine inclusion on MVP ballots and snared two All-NBA first-team selections."

King was dominant for the Knicks during most of his four seasons with the team. He averaged 32.9 points per game in the 1984-85 season, but the Knicks finished that year with a 24-58 record, giving them the opportunity to win the NBA Draft Lottery. That gave them the No. 1 overall pick, which they used to take Patrick Ewing out of Georgetown.

On his way to a scoring title, many expected King to respond with another dominant year. However, a torn ACL, meniscus and broken leg in March 1985 forced King to sit on the sidelines for the entire 1985-86 campaign. He only played in six games for the Knicks in the 1986-87 season before being released by the team.

King found his form with the Washington Bullets, but another knee injury in the 1990-91 campaign pretty much ended his career. He played with the New Jersey Nets for the final part of the 1992-93 season, but retired after knee injuries continued to catch up.

King was viewed as one of the biggest "what ifs" of his generation. If he didn't get hurt, chances are he would be much higher on this list.