1981 to 1985 and volunteer assistant coach for St. John's University. Reed also served as an assistant coach for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings. Reed debuted as head coach of the New Jersey Nets on March 1, 1988, one week after the Nets' star forward (and Reed's cousin) Orlando Woolridge was suspended by the league and was to undergo drug rehabilitation. He compiled a 33–77 record with the Nets. In 1989, he was hired as the Nets' general manager and vice president of basketball operations (1989–1996). During this time, he drafted Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson, acquired Dražen Petrović, and made the Nets a playoff contender throughout the early 1990s. Reed hired Chuck Daly to coach the Nets for the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons. In 1996, Reed moved to the position of senior vice president of basketball operations, with the continued goal of building the Nets into a championship contender. The Nets made the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. Reed next took the position of vice president of basketball operations with the New Orleans Hornets in 2004. He retired from that position in 2007. Legacy In 1970, Reed was inducted into the NAIA Basketball Hall of Fame In 1982, Reed was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame In 1997, Reed was elected to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team In 2021, Reed was elected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team The March 16, 2022, game between Kent State and Southern Utah at The Basketball Classic was designated the Willis Reed Game. Starting with the 2021–22 NBA season, the NBA Southwest Division champion would receive the Willis Reed Trophy. In popular media Rap songs have mentioned Reed, recognizing his impressive athleticism and skill. Examples include Kurtis Blow's 1984 hit "Basketball" on his Ego Trip album, and the Beastie Boys' "Long Burn The Fire" on their 2011 album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. Reed's name has become synonymous with playing through injury, as Cris Collinsworth described an injured Aaron Rodgers as having a "Willis Reed kind of night" on the NBC Sunday Night Football broadcast on September 9, 2018. NBA career statistics Regular season |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|New York | style="background:#cfecec;"|80* || || 38.0 || .432 || || .742 || 14.7 || 1.7 || — || — || 19.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|New York | 76 || || 33.4 || .434 || || .757 ||