In an era of high-scoring forwards, from Larry Bird and Julius Erving to Dominique Wilkins, few players were as prolific at putting the ball in the hoop as Bernard King. In 1985, the future Hall of Famer led all players by averaging 32.9 points per game. But that was the same year that King suffered a devastating knee injury, one that would keep him on the sideline for the entire following season. Miraculously, King made a then-unprecedented recovery, returning to All-Star form during the 1990-’91 season, five years after being told he would never play again.
“My attitude was, I’m from Brooklyn, I grew up on the toughest basketball courts in the world,” King said on the day he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, in 2013.