Willis Reed: Managing The Knicks’ Special Agony, 1978

Just as he did as a player, Reed threw himself wholeheartedly into the job.

Baltimore Bullets: All Blood and Guts, 1971

We visited the Bullets in their dressing room that night. The pungent odor of various liniments assailed the nostrils. Without Band-aids and painkillers, the Bullets might not have gotten this far. 

Baltimore Bullets: Once Upon a Time in Madison Square Garden, 1971

The Bullets needed a change of luck in the Garden.

Charlie Criss: Guts and Elbows Basketball, 1977

Criss became known as “The Mosquito,” and it was not a phony alliterative or geographical title invented by a P.R. man. It was a high sign to Criss that even though there were guys on the playground nobody ever heard of, many of them could hold their own with the best in the NBA.