National Basketball Association

Top 50 NBA players from last 50 years: Bernard King ranks No. 50

Updated Apr. 14, 2022 8:59 p.m. ET

Editor's Note: As part of a new series for his podcast "What’s Wright with Nick Wright," FOX Sports commentator Nick Wright is ranking the 50 best NBA players of the last 50 years. The countdown begins today with player No. 50, Bernard King.

Bernard King's career highlights:

Four-time All-Star
Two-time first-team All-NBA, one-time second-team, one-time third-team
1985 scoring champion
1984 MVP runner-up
1978 All-Rookie team
22.5 PPG, 51.8 FG%

Bernard King was a bucket.

For more than a decade, the Hall of Fame forward terrorized defenses by methodically getting to his spots and unleashing a midrange jumper that felt automatic.

The New York Knicks legend is the only other player to win the scoring title during Michael Jordan’s 11 full seasons with the Bulls. The accomplishment serves as a bittersweet climax in a career that had everyone who watched King wanting more.

"He didn’t have the longevity of some other guys, but his peak was incredibly high," Wright said.

Bernard King I No. 50 I Nick Wright's Top 50 NBA Players of the last 50 Years I What's Wright?

Former New York Knicks small forward Bernard King checks in at No. 50 on Nick Wright’s Top 50 NBA Players of the last 50 years. While King may be a lesser known name, Nick explains why he earned his spot on the list.

A natural scorer from Day 1, King found himself quickly relocating from New Jersey to Utah to Golden State within his first four seasons because of off-court issues. The New York native would eventually find a home with the Knicks, with whom he made two All-NBA first teams.

In 1984, King finished second in MVP voting and led New York to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where he averaged 29 points and scored 44 to stave off elimination in Game 6 against the eventual champion Boston Celtics. In the first round, he delivered 43 points and eight assists per game while dropping 40 in four consecutive contests to knock off the upstart Detroit Pistons.

King was even better in 1984-85. On Christmas Day, he torched his former team, the Nets, for a career-high 60 points. The virtuoso performance still stands as an NBA record for the holiday and punctuated his 32.9 scoring average for the season, a figure that has been topped by just four players since (Jordan, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Allen Iverson). King’s brilliant campaign didn’t extend to the playoffs, however. He suffered a torn ACL late in the regular season, which sidelined him for all but six games over the next two years.

The injury ultimately ended his tenure with the Knicks, but his days as a scorer were hardly over. He’d regain his form in Washington and earn his fourth All-Star nod (and a third-team All-NBA selection) in the 1990-91 season, averaging 28.4 points per game.

After another knee injury claimed another full season, King returned for a 32-game stint with the Nets before retiring in 1993.

"Brilliant player," Wright added. "A big what-if."