NBA executive Willis Reed accepts Hornets VP position, relocates to home state Louisiana

After recently being hired as the New Orleans Hornets vice president of basketball operations, NBA Hall of Famer Willis Reed says he will finish his illustrious career with the NBA in his native state of Louisiana.

"This will be my last job," said the 62-year-old Reed, who was born in the northern Louisiana town of Hico, grew up in nearby Bernice and was an All-American at Grambling State in the early 1960s.

Reed, who led the New York Knicks to NBA titles in 1970 and 1973, was an adviser for the Knicks last season after 14 years in the New Jersey Nets' front office. Reed was the Nets' senior vice president when Hornets coach Byron Scott guided New Jersey.

Reed said he was happy in New York and expected to finish his front-office career there until he found out the Hornets were interested in bringing him back to Louisiana.

"When I went back to the Knicks last year I thought I had really gone home ... I would walk around the practice facility and my number was hanging and they had pictures of me," Reed said.

It was only Reed's strong personal ties to Louisiana--where his mother still lives--that led him to leave New York. He also was interested in working again with Scott, whom Reed called "the best young coach in the NBA."

Reed is looking to contribute to roster decisions, advising the coaching staff, evaluating free agents and conjuring up trade possibilities.