When a Knicks hero cured an adolescent's fever
Larry Lapka, fighting a fever, and his sister, Gail, at the candle lighting ceremony at his bar mitzvah on May 9, 1970. Credit: Lapka family photo
The Knicks’ march to the NBA Finals has triggered a vivid memory I will never forget. I remember it like it was yesterday, one of the most important times of my life -- Friday, May 8, 1970, one day before my bar mitzvah. For about a week or so, I was so sick from anxiety about my special occasion that I had a fever.
Yet I watched on TV every minute of the NBA championship series between the Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers that I could. It was the first NBA Finals series be televised nationally, but back then, games were blacked out in the home city -- WABC/7 didn’t televise the Madison Square Garden games live but on tape delay, usually at 11:30 p.m.
I had a secret weapon, though, in my bedroom -- my small black-and-white Zenith portable TV that somehow picked up WTNH/8, ABC’s Connecticut affiliate, very well in Rochdale Village, South Jamaica..
That Friday, I felt pressure because my bar mitzvah was the next day. And there was no way out. But despite anxiety and the 105 degree fever, I decided to watch the game, the biggest the Knicks had ever played -- Game 7 to decide the championship.
At 8 p.m. I turned on Ch. 8, and that game changed my life.
Knicks captain Willis Reed had torn his right thigh muscle in Game 5 and sat out Game 6. Could he play in Game 7? The Knicks came out for their pregame shootaround like the Lakers, who were led by Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain. But where was the Knicks’ center?
Suddenly, Reed entered the arena. He had decided that nothing would stop him from taking the court in Game 7. The Lakers were so stunned that they all stopped to watch as the crowd wildly cheered their hero.
Reed, limping on his heavily taped right thigh, made his first two memorable shots for a 4-0 lead and the Lakers never recovered. Walt (Clyde) Frazier had perhaps the greatest clutch game by a Knick or any NBA player, with 36 points and 19 assists, and the Knicks won their first title, 113-99.
When Reed had limped onto the floor, I got goose bumps. I thought that if this guy can do what he is supposed to do on one leg, then what am I doing in bed as sick as I am? I can do it, too!
When that game ended, I felt a burden had been lifted off my shoulders. I woke up on Saturday, all ready to go. Sure, I still had a fever, but I felt like I could take on the world.
All told, I barely made it through the ceremony in our synagogue, and I nearly passed out toward the end. But I did it. And later that day, I felt fine -- 100%, no fever, no nothing.
Those two days -- May 8 and May 9, 1970 -- were certainly the most important days of my young life, and more than 50 years later, they still stand out as two consequential days for me.
Today’s selfless Knicks conjure up all those vivid memories. Now, I have some major ailments to address, but like in 1970, when Willis Reed limped onto the Garden court, if these Knicks can do it in 2026, well, I can do it, too. We are both out to win, and we are going to do it.
Reader Larry Lapka, of Farmingdale, has been a Knicks fan since 1965.
SEND AN ESSAY about life on Long Island (about 550 words) to expressway@newsday.com. Essays will be edited and may be republished in all media. Include your full name, address and telephone numbers.
