When Black Jesus blessed the Garden: A 50-year retrospective on the Earl “The Pearl” Monroe trade
Fifty years ago, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe became a New York Knick. Although he would cement himself over time as an all-time Knick legend, it wasn’t easy, or even likely, for Monroe to reach those heights in New York.
Earl Monroe was not a New York Knick.
I don’t just mean that he wasn’t a Knick in the sense that he was drafted by, played for, and rose to stardom with a different team — a rival team no less — in the Baltimore Bullets. I mean that in every conceivable way, literal and figurative, Earl Monroe was perceived as the antithesis of the Red Holzman-coached, Willis Reed-captained, Walt Frazier-organized New York Knicks. Yet, somehow, improbably, 50 years ago today, Earl the Pearl became a Knickerbocker, an ever-twirling circle forced into the squarest of holes. If you are unfamiliar with Earl’s game, educate yourself with some YouTube highlights. Try to picture a 6-foot-3 DeMar DeRozan crushing teams with trick shots every single night, and you begin to approach Earl Monroe. He demolished you with spin moves, pump-fakes, changes of speed, angles, English — the most unique blend of quirky art.
In David Halberstam’s Breaks of the Game, he poetically describes how Lionel Hollins felt guarding Monroe for the very first time: “...like guarding a black ghost, for there would be a jerk of the Monroe body as if some unnatural spirit from another planet had entered it, and then a Monroe hitch and a spin in the opposite direction and Hollins, like many before him, would be guarding not Earl Monroe but a recently vacated piece of Manhattan real estate.” Asked if he could take Monroe in a game of one-on-one, Walt Frazier famously replied, “God couldn’t go one-on-one with him.”
Recognized this season along with his New York teammates Reed, Frazier, Lucas, and DeBusschere as one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history, the story of how Earl Monroe became a New York Knick against all odds is worth repeating. And, I don’t just mean that he became a Knick in the sense that he was traded from Baltimore to New York on November 10, 1971. I mean that he became an essential part of the Knicks; both a part of the ’70s Knicks’ second NBA championship, as well as the franchise’s history.
Earl Monroe was almost a New York Knick.
Let’s go way back. The Knicks existed sort of listlessly in the fledgling NBA landscape prior to 1967. They had drafted a potential centerpiece in Willis Reed in 1964, but had failed to build strategically around him. They finished the ’66-67 season with a 36-45 record, representative of an organization steeped in mediocrity and irrelevance.
The 1967 draft boasted four players who would go on to make massive NBA impacts — Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe as players; Pat Riley and Phil Jackson as coaches. The Baltimore Bullets, coming off of a putrid 20-61 campaign, held the second pick in the draft, while the Knicks held the fifth pick. At the time, Jerry Krause, the architect of the great 1990s Chicago Bulls, was working as an executive for the Bullets, and vouched hard for the sensation who averaged over 40 a game at Winston-Salem State in North Carolina — the kid they called Black Jesus — Earl Monroe. Gene Shue, the legendary coach of Baltimore, preferred the larger, steadier, less flashy Illinois State Saluki — a relative unknown named Walt Frazier. That’s right — Frazier was the not flashy one coming out of college. Imagine that.
Shue won the internal debate, and the Bullets called Frazier, offering him $15,000 to be their first-round draft pick. Frazier phoned his attorney, who threatened Baltimore that his client would go back to school for his junior year if he was drafted that high for that little money. To Krause’s delight, Baltimore turned its attention back to Monroe, and drafted him. Walt Frazier was very nearly a Baltimore Bullet, and, had it gone that way, Earl Monroe may well have been drafted by the Knicks. Though it may come as a surprise, Holzman, then a scout for the Knicks, was a big fan of the college prodigy, and described him in his scouting report at the time as follows: “Cool and good poise with the ball... Hits the free man good when double-teamed.” Red saw through the flashy individual play. He saw a ballplayer, and had Monroe fallen to No. 5 in the draft, New York almost certainly would have selected him. Frazier in Baltimore; Monroe in New York: What an alternate history that could have been!
Earl Monroe was a New York Knick rival.
Upgraded by impressive rookies, both New York and Baltimore made significant improvements in the 1967-1968 season (Baltimore from 20 to 36 wins, New York from 36 to 43 wins and a playoff berth), but because the Knicks remained the superior team (now under Red Holtzman, who was promoted from scout to head coach midseason), Frazier and Monroe experienced vastly different rookie campaigns. Monroe excelled immediately, averaging 24 points, five rebounds, and four assists while logging 37 minutes per contest, earning him Rookie of the Year honors. In contrast, Frazier was given a far more limited role, playing 21 minutes and scoring a modest nine points per contest. The Knicks would bow out in the first round to the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.
The two east coast teams improved drastically the following season due to a key acquisition by each front office, launching the rivalry that was to ensue. The Bullets drafted the great big man Wes Unseld No. 2 overall. Unseld would, incredibly, win both the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards that season — the only player to ever do so other than Wilt Chamberlain — as he catapulted the Bullets from last place in the division to first with a 57-25 record. After a rocky start to the season, the Knicks, for their part, acquired power forward Dave DeBusschere from the Detroit Pistons, altering the outlook of their team in a way that paid immediate dividends — they won 14 of their next 15 games. They finished just behind Baltimore at 54-28, setting up the first playoff matchup between Monroe and Unseld’s Bullets and the new-look Knicks.
Drama would have to wait for future playoff bouts, however, as the Knicks swept the Bullets convincingly before being thwarted by the Celtics in six games, a victim of Bill Russell’s Last Stand. That first round trouncing introduced the narrative that would come to define the early career of Monroe, and his counterpart and contrast, Walt Frazier. The Knick point guard averaged 20 points and 12 assists on extremely efficient 56% shooting, while Monroe gunned his way to 28 points per game, but averaged just five assists, and shot a measly 38% from the field. The selfish, flashy chucker vs. the steady, team-oriented floor-general — it was an easy narrative the New York media was more than happy to latch onto.
Of course, the Knickerbockers would embark on their magical run in ’69-70 that would culminate in the franchise’s first NBA title. They were dominant pretty much all year long, winning 22 of their first 23 games and finishing with a total 60 wins, including a 5-0 record over Monroe’s Bullets with an average margin of victory of 19. Their dominance over the Bullets made it all the more surprising when Baltimore came into the Garden for Game 1 of the clubs’ second straight first round playoff series, and pushed New York to the absolute brink. Earl, revenge on his mind, dropped 39 on just 28 shots, pushing the game to double overtime before New York finally prevailed. The home team would win every game of the series, resulting in a Knicks victory in seven. Monroe, for his part, proved the doubters wrong, averaging 28 on 48% shooting, and almost toppling the heavy favorites. The Knicks would quickly dispose of Lew Alcindor’s Bucks in five games, before prevailing over Jerry West, Wilt, and Elgin Baylor’s Lakers in seven. But that Bullets series was as great a test as any for the newly-minted champs. “You could see a difference in them, like they knew they belonged,” Frazier would later recall.
In 1970-71, the Bullets and Knicks finished first in their respective divisions, and faced off in the playoffs for a third straight season. This clash came with higher stakes, however, as this was the first time the teams would battle in the Eastern Conference Finals, a Finals berth in the balance. The home team prevailed in the first six games of the series, meaning road teams came up short in a remarkable 13 straight contests between these two squads. Game 7 was again at MSG, and New Yorkers must have been brimming with confidence based on recent history. That feeling was reinforced as they watched Monroe struggling mightily in Game 7, shooting just 10-26. But Earl had learned from the grueling series of years past, and a change in approach would make all the difference.
After hitting a key jumper to put the Bullets ahead by one with two minutes to go, Monroe closed out the game in New York Knick fashion — by finding the open man. His three assists in the closing two minutes kept the Knicks in the rearview mirror, and Baltimore had finally, mercifully, prevailed over their arch rivals. “At one time you could count on Monroe passing only five percent of the time,” New York forward Bill Bradley told reporters that night. “You can’t double team him now because he’s passing off a lot more.” The Garden faithful watched in horror as Monroe and his teammates celebrated their first NBA Finals berth on the Knicks’ floor. Little did they know they’d be seeing a lot more of their nemesis the following season.
Earl Monroe is a New York Knick?!
So, now equipped with some background, let’s go back to slightly more recent NBA history: Isiah Thomas’ Bad Boy Pistons and Larry Bird’s Celtics met in the playoffs for the first time in the second round of the 1985 playoffs. The Celtics were composed of established veterans who had already won two championships; the Pistons were the upstarts. The Celtics prevailed in six games on their way to another legendary battle with the Showtime Lakers, which they would lose. Boston and Detroit met again in 1987, this time in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics with a third championship notch in their belt from the year before, the Pistons still trying to prove themselves. By this time, the clubs had developed a mutual hatred of one another. This time, Detroit pushed Boston to the brink, before losing a heartbreaker in seven. The Pistons could have easily won Game 5 if not for an unforgivable Isiah Thomas brain cramp on an inbounds pass.(“That’s a steal by Bird!”), leading some to question his fortitude in the most pressurized moments. The rivals clashed again in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1988. Finally, the Pistons got over the hump, unseating the hated Celtics and reaching their first NBA Finals, before losing to Magic Johnson and the Lakers in seven.
Sounds familiar, right? Can you imagine, in your wildest dreams, Isiah Thomas demanding a trade from Detroit after that Finals loss to the Lakers in 1988, after finally usurping Boston, and joining the Celtics?! Totally absurd. Incomprehensible.
Well, that’s as close as you’ll get to understanding the absurdity and audacity of Earl the Pearl Monroe demanding a trade from Baltimore and winding up with the New York Knicks.
Flashing back to 1971, Monroe, fresh off of a Finals appearance, was tired of being an underpaid superstar. His agent was the notorious Larry Fleisher, the power agent of the time, and he convinced Monroe to hold out until he was traded. Monroe decided on three teams to which he would like to be sent: His hometown 76ers, the Lakers, and the Chicago Bulls. He was absolutely shocked when it turned out to be the Knicks, especially because Walt (by now, Clyde) Frazier already controlled the basketball for New York. Would there be room for him in the offense?
Recall that in Holzman’s original scouting report on Monroe in college, he emphasized that Monroe “hits the open man.” Recall that Monroe finally conquered Holzman’s Knicks by drawing the double team and finding his teammates. It all comes full circle, and in hindsight, becoming an integral part of the Knicks’ passing and cutting machine on the way to a title was Earl’s basketball destiny.
But at the time, the future success of the Monroe/Frazier backcourt was anything but assured. In Harvey Araton’s wonderful book chronicling the 1970s Knicks, “When the Garden Was Eden,” he cites a conversation in the backseat of a taxi between two Knick teammates, Phil Jackson and Bill Bradley, 50 years ago today, the day the trade was made. Jackson expressed his doubts to Bradley that the experiment would work. Bradley disagreed vehemently: “Earl will fit right in. He’s a hell of a player.” Frazier himself had his doubts. Interpreting New York’s interest in Earl as a sign they were looking to move him, Clyde told reporters: “That’s the only way the trade for Monroe makes sense. They don’t need both him and me in the backcourt.”
The truth is, they were both right to an extent. It took time, patience, and great sacrifice for Monroe to fully integrate himself with his new team. He came off the bench for much of the 71-72 season (based on his own recommendation to Holzman, it should be noted) — unthinkable at the time — and averaged just 12 points per game, cutting his expected annual output in half. Though the Knicks made the Finals that season, Monroe never really found his footing (nagging injuries played a part as well), even in the playoffs, and was benched for the pesky but severely limited Dean Meminger in certain matchups. He later told Araton that as a member of the Knicks, his game “went from spectacular to being like a student. It was very hard when the game was at a certain point not to try and take over, because I was so used to doing that.”
It would take until the following year for the team to really meld, and even then, Monroe only averaged 15 points per game. However, he had found his role in the offense, and scored far more efficiently during the Knicks’ championship run. “He changed his game, disciplined it, and fitted into the existing machinery as if he had been born to it,” wrote Halberstam. Earl cemented his place as a Knick legend with a vintage performance in the clinching Game 5 of the Finals against the Lakers, shooting 8-15 from the floor, dropping 23 points and four assists to avenge the prior year’s Finals defeat. Poetically, he led the team in scoring in its most important game, the team for which he had sacrificed so much of his individuality in the name of the ultimate team success.
Earl Monroe is a New York Knick legend.
At first glance, Monroe’s creativity and flash had no place on the Knicks. Ironically, he sacrificed that individuality to become the ultimate New York Knick. When he was told he was headed to New York, he told Jerry Krause, who had become a confidant in Baltimore, “They think I’m a loser. Well f*** them. I’m a winner. I’ll give it up. Walt can get the glory, and if they need me in the fourth quarter, I’ll be ready.” He was on the money. Holzman’s Knicks stood for sacrificing for the greater good. In that sense, Earl Monroe is, in truth, the prototypical New York Knick legend. Let’s give him his glory.
