When Jerry Lucas took on the honor of inducting his former teammate Bill Bradley into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983, he told his audience that certain words came to mind quickly as he prepared to make his speech: “Words like ‘rare’ and ‘unique’ and ‘one-of-a-kind’ and ‘very uncommon’ were the words that came to my mind to describe Sen. Bill Bradley,” he said.
By 1983, of course, the former Knicks great set to join the Hall of Fame had embarked on his second career, having been elected Senator from New Jersey in 1979.
1983 was a big year for Knicks greats: another teammate of Bradley’s, Dave DeBusschere, was elected to the Hall of Fame in the same class. “To have a chance to play with him really was the reason I became a star,” said Willis Reed in his induction speech, giving “Big D” the ultimate compliment: He was a Hall of Fame teammate.
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