Willis Reed, the captain of the New York Knicks championship teams in the 70s, died Tuesday.
The cause of his death hasn’t been announced, but retired NBA columnist and Hall of Famer Peter Vecsey said on Twitter that Reed, 80, “suffered congestive heart problems over the past year or so and was going through rehab to walk.”
Reed entered the pantheon of greatness when he limped out of Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals and inspired the Knicks to an improbable win over the Los Angeles Lakers for their first championship.
He also won his only regular-season MVP that year and his first of two NBA Finals MVPs, completing a grand slam as he was also named the 1970 All-Star MVP.