NEW YORK — Hall of Famer Bernard King looks at how the NBA game is all about 3-point shooting and pace and predicts that one Christmas Day, his NBA scoring record for the holiday will fall. He’s more than OK with that, just as he’s perfectly fine with all the Knicks fans who come up to him when he returns to Madison Square Garden and can’t wait to tell him that they were there in 1984 to see him score his 60 points in a loss to the New Jersey Nets.
"Judging from the all the people I talk to," King said, laughing, "I think half of New York was there that day."
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Actually, about half the Garden was empty.
The attendance was listed at 10,581, a stark reminder of how far the NBA and its marquee date has advanced since King set a building record that stood until Kobe Bryant scored 61 in 2009. The proof is in the ticket prices. Back when King played, he’d buy a block of 10 tickets for every home game for his friends and family who’d make the trip from Brooklyn. The seats were about 15 rows up from the court. The total price, as he remembers: $150.
For this Christmas game, the Knicks’ 53rd and the Bucks’ first appearance since 1977 when they played in the Western Conference and traveled to Kansas City for the holiday game, StubHub is asking $150 for a ticket. It’s not just 15 rows up, either.
On Christmas, King will be back in the Garden to watch the Knicks and sign his new book, "Game Face." He once led the NBA in scoring and became something of a legend by becoming the first player to recover from a torn ACL, then a career-ending injury, to make the All-Star team. But for many Knicks fans, they’ll always remember his Christmas Day game first and foremost.
"I relish it because here I am a kid from Brooklyn and doing that as a member of the Knicks, my hometown team," King said. "The thing I still remember is that I had 40 points at the half. That was a remarkable thing, given the fact I wasn’t shooting threes. I didn’t shoot a three the entire game."
All game, the Knicks took and made their only 3-pointer while the Nets shot and missed all five of their attempts. That was the NBA back then. The 3-point shot was reserved for the end of games, when the trailing team needed to make up ground fast. Hand-checking and physical defenses ruled the day, as opposed to how the pendulum has swung in this era toward the skilled player with 3-point range.
"Today, with the way teams score and get up the court and with everybody shooting threes," King said on SiriusXM NBA, "I’m sure that someone is going to get the record."
Add in another factor: Since Christmas is the top TV draw and the unofficial start of the season for many casual fans, the NBA always makes sure its marquee players are featured. Bryant played in a record 16 Christmas Day games and left as the top scorer, with 395 points. Kevin Durant, who will be in action when the Warriors host LeBron James and Lakers in the ABC primetime matchup, has come closest among active players to King’s mark, scoring 44 against Denver in 2010.
This year, the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo makes his Christmas debut, with the Bucks knowing they’ve attained a certain level of prominence in the eyes of the league and its TV partners by being chosen to play in the Garden.
"We all know it’s a huge deal," said Antetokounmpo’s teammate, Khris Middleton. "When the schedule first came out and I saw that we’d be playing on Christmas in the Garden, the Mecca, that was incredible. We’re all excited to get the opportunity to play on Christmas in New York."
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It’ll be difficult for anyone to top what Russell Westbrook did in 2013 when he and Kevin Durant came to New York for Christmas. The Thunder scored the largest win for a road team on the holiday, a 123-94 rout of the Knicks. Unlike King’s record day, the Garden was sold out, but not a lot happened for New York fans to cheer about, as Durant recalled: "On the bench I was saying, 'It feels like nobody is in here.'"
Westbrook certainly was there, needing only 29 minutes to rack up a triple-double. Westbrook didn’t play a minute of the fourth quarter after seemingly showing that he had fully recovered from two knee surgeries since suffering an injury the previous April in the playoffs against Houston. Much of the talk in the Thunder locker room afterward centered on Westbrook’s electric performance.
"He had a triple-double in three quarters," Durant said, as Westbrook dressed alongside. "I think it speaks for itself. His timing is back. He is playing well."
Little did Durant or anyone else know that the swelling and pain Westbrook still experienced was too much. Two days after the game, while New York was still buzzing about Westbrook’s performance, he was back in Los Angeles having another round of surgery.
Sometimes, it’s not only the Christmas crowd that gets wowed by what they see or hear in the Garden. In 1980, Kevin McHale made his first trip to New York as a rookie with the Celtics for the big holiday matchup. A small-town kid from Hibbing, Minn., McHale went to Rockefeller Center the morning of the game to get a look at the big tree and take in New York City in all its holiday spirit.
Later at the Garden, as he warmed up with the big crowd filing in, he suddenly heard someone nearby yelling, "Hey, Hibbing! Hey, Hibbing!"
McHale turned to see Bob Dylan, Hibbing’s most famous native.
"That blew me away," McHale said. "I did a double-take. Here I am in the Garden on Christmas and Bob Dylan knows who I am? That was surreal."
On Christmas Day in New York, anything’s possible.
Listen to Mitch Lawrence on SiriusXM NBA Radio on The Starting Lineup, No Look Pass, NBA Today and NBA Weekend. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Lawrence.
