Brooklyn holds a special place in World B. Free 's heart, as that is where he grew up— Brownsville, to be exact. In addition, the NYC borough is the birthplace of his name. Born Lloyd Bernard Free, the legendary shooting guard was given his new name in a Brooklyn playground by his friend for his "All-World" talent, highlighted by his 360-degree dunks.
So, Free wanted to put on a show for Brownsville if possible. He had such an opportunity during his sophomore year in the NBA, playing for the Philadelphia 76ers . The team faced off against the Boston Celtics in the 1977 Eastern Conference semifinals. The "Prince of Mid-Air" heard that Game 7 would be broadcast on CBS, so he hatched a plan.
"The game was on CBS, and I was like, 'This is a chance for the people in Brownsville to see World B. play!' he said . "I just played out of my mind."
Free's coming-out party
Before the deciding contest of the Sixers' series against the defending champion, Free's then career-high in the postseason was 22 points, which he recorded in Game 3 of the same series.
The Celtics had the momentum going into the final showdown, having won the previous meeting 113-108 behind Jo Jo White's 40 points.
Despite Boston's roster also featuring John Havlicek and Dave Cowens, Philadelphia arguably had a more star-studded and electrifying squad. Free even once said that the Sixers of that era were one of the greatest teams ever assembled . He had a point as he shared the floor with the likes of Julius Erving, George McGinnis, Doug Collins, Caldwell Jones, Henry Bibby, and Darryl Dawkins.
The "Brownsville Bomber" took matters into his own hands in Game 7, leading all scorers with 27 points to lift Philly to a hard-fought 83-77 victory. He likely made his hometown proud as the Sixers advanced to the Conference Finals, where the Houston Rockets awaited.
Related: Oscar Schmidt shares how beating Team USA after a miraculous 35-point second-half performance was ‘the best part of his life’
Free's unfortunate injury
While Free probably wanted to continue his torrid offensive production in the next series, he found himself sidelined by a collapsed lung. It barely mattered, as his teammates more than made up for his three-game absence and took care of business against the Rockets in six contests.
With the conference finals triumph, World B. advanced to the Finals and earned the chance to continue strutting his stuff to viewers from Brownsville. Sadly, though, he was unable to fully recover from his injury and couldn't play at full strength against the Portland Trail Blazers in the championship stage.
Free averaged just 7.2 points per contest in his only Finals appearance. Still, the Sixers looked on the way to bringing home the trophy after racing to a 2-0 lead. But Bill Walton had other ideas and led Portland to four straight wins.
It's unclear how things would have turned out had Free been healthy enough to provide Philadelphia with more offensive help. As it turned out, only Erving and Collins proved to be the Sixers' reliable scorers against a stout Blazers defense.
Related: "There were about 12 people in the stands" - World B. Free vowed to 'help this organization' after getting traded to the Cavs
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