Earl the Pearl

Earl "The Pearl" Monroe is a basketball legend whose impact on the game transcends statistics, a player known as much for his unorthodox, "playground" style of play as his championship pedigree. Observers said that watching him play was like listening to jazz, his moves resembling free-floating improvisations. "I don't know what I'm going to do with the ball," Monroe once admitted, "and if I don't know, I'm quite sure the guy guarding me doesn't know either."

Traded to the New York Knicks before the 1971-72 season, Monroe became a key member of the beloved, star-studded 1972-73 Knicks team that captured the NBA title. And now, on the 40th anniversary of that championship season--the franchise's last--Monroe is finally ready to tell his remarkable story.