Watch: When Willis Reed became an NBA legend

After an MVP campaign in 1970 in which he averaged 21.7 points and 13.9 rebounds while anchoring the league's best defense, Reed tore his right quadriceps muscle in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The injury kept him out for Game 6, but Reed -- who died Tuesday at 80 -- stunned the Madison Square Garden crowd by coming out to start the deciding game.

Not only did he start, but Reed made the Knicks' first two baskets of the game and electrified the crowd. His surprise appearance inspired his team and demoralized the Los Angeles Lakers, who stopped their own warmups to watch when Reed appeared on the court.

Years later, Knicks forward and future senator Bill Bradley explained, "Reed hit the second shot, and at that point, it's over." 

The stunned Lakers never recovered.

The Knicks were ahead by 14 points after the first quarter and led by 27 at halftime, while New York held a team featuring Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor to just 42 first half points. That's in part thanks to the 6-foot-9 Reed forcing the 7-foot-1 Wilt the Stilt into difficult shots. 

The performance was so legendary (Reed was literally dragging his right leg up and down the court, clearly in intense pain) that the "Willis Reed game" gets brought up anytime a player perseveres through injury. It felt like a performance out of fiction or folklore—the Knicks team captain shocked the basketball world with what may well be the grittiest performance in NBA history.

"Close your eyes, and grit your teeth," Reed said, reflecting on the game for ESPN's "Sportscentury." "You're doing it for a reason that's worth the pain, because you're going to do something that's going to be historic."

He stayed on the court for 27 minutes, while Clyde Frazier delivered 36 points and 19 assists to give the Knicks their first NBA title.

"I have never heard the emotion of a crowd that responded as greatly as that crowd responded to Willis Reed stepping onto that court," Phil Jackson told ESPN years later.

Reed went on to defeat West and Chamberlain in the 1973 Finals again, winning the title and Finals MVP award in five games. A year later, injuries drove Reed into retirement at age 32, but he managed to make seven All-Star teams in his 10-year career.

Willis Reed may have been an undersized center, but he will be remembered forever for his enormous heart.