Imagine being a superstar basketball player from the world’s most glamorous NBA franchise. And now, imagine attracting the attention of Hollywood to such a level that they offer you more money for acting than an Oscar-winning actor.
Well, that’s exactly how Bernard King lived it.
King, was a superstar in the league during his time with the New York Knicks. The 1977 No. 7 pick was a scoring forward who racked up 4 All-NBA nominations in his career.
And then, while an All-NBA-level star, with his popularity at its peak, King made Hollywood swoon.
Kings Road Entertainment came looking for the King of him and seemed to find him at Madison Square Garden.
They also seemed to make her an offer she couldn’t refuse. The production company didn’t even hesitate to make King a higher paid actor than Al Pacino!
What did Bernard King reveal about the offer he received to act in Quick rest?
quick rest was a 1979 American comedy film that revolved around a basketball-themed plot. The film marked Bernard King’s acting debut and introduced a different side of the NBA superstar to the fandom.
And it took quite a bit of the offer to get King’s services too. Pay similar to his status in New York lore.
“$500 a week just to eat. Now this is 1978. How much money is that today? I drive a Mercedes-Benz convertible, which they paid for and they paid me $25,000. What the hell? Now, I learned many years later, I made more than Al Pacino filming the first ‘Godfather’ movie.
” narrated King about his lavish acting experience.
The legendary Knicks forward was also placed in a Beverly Hills apartment during the session. Royal treatment worthy of the name. Al Pacino surely racked up a lot more throughout his career.
But no basketball player except King can claim to have earned more than an Oscar winner for an acting role.
Was this Bernard King’s only foray into the world of acting?
While this was King’s only appearance in a mainstream film, it wasn’t the only piece of pop culture bearing King’s imprints.
The former Knicks forward also appeared as a fictional basketball player in Miami Vice.
In the 1986 episode, The solution, Bernard King rose to fame as Matt Ferguson of the Florida Sunblazers. And King wasn’t the only NBA superstar to appear on the show.
As King’s father, it was Celtics royalty: Bill Russell. The late superstar appeared as Judge Roger Ferguson on the show in the company of King.
Bernard King was immortalized in two of the largest fields of entertainment. Stardust followed the striker to both Mecca and Hollywood.
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