Bergen County police did not confirm what drugs were in his system, but did acknowledge that the minor was unharmed, and that Gooden was later released on his own recognizance, pending a municipal court hearing.

Ronald Schmidt, the driver of the other car, said he recognized the former Mets’ star immediately.

“I looked at him, and I knew it was Dwight Gooden,” he told WABC-TV in New York. “I think he was surprised; he shook my hand.”

This incident was just the latest in a series of drug-related episodes that shortened a once-promising baseball career, and has nearly ended his life on multiple occasions.

In February 2002, Gooden was cited for driving while intoxicated in his hometown of Tampa, Florida. A further check into his background produced a suspended license, which was still on his record when, eleven months later, he was nabbed again.

By 2005, Gooden was several months removed from punching his then-girlfriend during a domestic dispute, when he was stopped for driving erratically. His eyes were reported to be glassy and bloodshot, there was slurred speech, and a ‘strong’ odor of alcohol was eminent. Though Gooden was not arrested on the spot, he did turn himself in within three days.

At his March 2006 probation hearing, Gooden opted for a prison term with the hope that his addiction could be cured. After six weeks in the slammer, he shared his thoughts of prison life.

“I can’t come back here…I’d rather get shot than come back here….If I don’t get the message this time, I never will.”

Gooden was released in November of that year, and appeared to have turned his life around. He had recently moved to Franklin Lakes, and was going to open a baseball academy before his investors recanted. In September 2009, Gooden accepted an upper management role with the Newark Bears.

This past January, he was notified of his inclusion into the Mets’ Hall of Fame –along with several key components of the 1986 championship team -GM Frank Cashen, manager Davey Johnson and longtime teammate Darryl Strawberry. The induction is scheduled for August 1, but whether the Mets will now honor him remains to be seen.

Gooden was invited to act as a spring training adviser for the Mets this year, but politely declined.

During his phenomenal first season, Gooden won 17 of 26 decisions and fanned a rookie-record 276 hitters in just 218 innings. Teammates dubbed him ‘Doc’ as a testament to the way he operated on the mound. Gooden proved even better during his sophomore year, with a 24-4 mark, 268 strikeouts, and a league-best 1.53 earned run average.

He retired in 2001 with a very impressive 194-112 record over 16 seasons [.634 winning percentage]. However, as Gooden had won 100 games before his 25th birthday, he will always be symbolic of the ballplayer who never quite reached his full potential.

Bradley admitted, while rehashing that magnificent 1970 title season, which culminated in a seven-game victory against the three-headed monster [Elgin Baylor-Wilt Chamberlain-Jerry West] and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers, that all the beatitudes he had learned on the court rested there, and were never consciously brought into the political arena.

At least, all of Bradley’s teammates had bought into Red Holzman’s various concepts, such as hitting the open man on offense and playing a team-oriented defense.  The second half of Bradley’s very public world wouldn’t be quite as harmonious; he spent three terms [1979-97] in the US Senate seated among two of this nation’s most bitter groups of people -Democrats and Republicans.

[Note: Bradley, who may be remembered more as a ballplayer because of New York’s two championships, would parlay both court sense and a lethal outside jump shot, into a distinguished Hall-of-Fame career.  Bradley -known for making intelligent decisions- opted for early retirement in 1976, and immediately pursued his next passion.  At his swear-in, on January 3, 1979, the 35 year-old Democrat had become the youngest-sitting senator.]

This night, however, was all about how that decade began.

“In ‘Values of the Game’ [1998/Artisan],” he recalled, “I wrote that the story of the 1970 Knicks was the fifth game and the seventh game.  It’s a story about resilience, like a hammer hitting metal instead of brick.  When we faced adversity, we didn’t break; we just became stronger.  That was among many of the values which were reflected in that season.”

Bradley referenced three bench players [Bill Hosket, Don May and Mike Riordan] to illustrate his point.

“Riordan made real contributions, and always did what he was asked to do.  And, he did it very well.  Mike gave totally -and unselfishly- to the rest of us.  Every day, May and Hosket tried to kill us in practice.  We couldn’t lose our sharpness, because they were always there to challenge us.”

“I think we played basketball the way New York understands, and likes, basketball.  They were the only audience in the country who would applaud the pass that led to the pass that led to the basket.  People appreciated the beauty of our game.  It wasn’t a game of strength, but one of finesse and unselfishness -more like ballet than sumo-wrestling.”

Subsequently, the Knicks grew into a team that fans at Madison Square Garden could admire.

“It was more important to have a championship ring [than individual honors].  Obviously, we’d look at the stat sheet after a game, but that was inconsequential compared to whether or not we had won.  Life was lighter.  We looked forward to playing each game, and creating [plays] on the court.  We knew, on most nights, we would win.”

The first 60-win season in franchise history is more than enough to validate Bradley’s words.  But, going deeper, ‘Dollar Bill’ provides one more money shot.

“We also knew we could lean on our teammates.  If one of us –Willis or Walt, DeBusschere or I- had an off game, someone would be there to pick us up.  That’s how well we knew the other as people.  Not just as players.

“Each of us realized that we couldn’t be as good on our own as we were together.”

Bradley, a noted gym rat during his days as a scholar/athlete, would come to appreciate this more than anyone could imagine.

As a junior at Princeton in 1964, he was selected to the USA Olympic Team, and would, subsequently, win a gold medal in Tokyo.  Later, at Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship, Bradley played for Olimpia Milano in Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A.  Olimpia Milano, which has won 39 assorted titles since its inception in 1936, would win the 1966 title and, by 1970, he was the first player in basketball history to win the Olympic-European-NBA trifecta [an accomplishment that has been matched only by Manu Ginobili, a guard with the San Antonio Spurs].

Somehow, Bradley thought his professional basketball career would soon be over.  Instead, the end was just a beginning.

“I didn’t play for two years.  I thought, ‘That was it; I’m not going to play any more basketball.  But, then I realized not to come back wouldn’t be true to me.  I signed a four-year contract, and that was as far as I looked.”

After a stint with the United States Air Force Reserves, Bradley -who was the second overall pick by the Knicks in 1965 [just ahead of future teammates Dave Stallworth and Nate Bowman]- finally joined New York.

“Every year after that, I signed a one-year contract because, after every year, I wanted to reassess where my heart was.”

“The game always called me back.”

Forty years later, he was still there to answer it.

-Donnie Walsh, the Knicks’ president of basketball operations, on T-Mac’s assessment that New York is the place to play

And, yet, that isn’t the absolute truth.

“When we walked out of Boston Garden in [April] 1969,” Willis Reed, New York’s All-Star center and team captain, recalled, “I knew we would start winning.  We might’ve won then, but Walt [Frazier] was hurt.  Now, [Bill] Russell was going to retire, and it was going to be hard for the Celtics to replace that level of talent.”

With those few words, Reed had accentuated his point.

The Celts, led by Russell, then a player-coach, had forged ahead, 3-1, in the best-of-seven series.  But, the Knicks won Game 5, 112-104, at Madison Square Garden and returned back to Boston.  After playing four games in six days, the series did not resume until four days later.  A seventh, and deciding, game at MSG loomed if New York could win.

Instead, the Celtics escaped with a 106-105 victory and, after dropping the first two games of the championship round against the Los Angeles Lakers, won four of the next five to claim their 11^th title.  The Lakers’ Jerry West, recorded a triple-double [42 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists] in the finale, and averaged nearly 38 points throughout the series, thus becoming the first, and only, Finals MVP from a losing team.

Reed’s commentary on Russell, an 11-time champion, is eerily similar to what is often said about Patrick Ewing, who was just one victim of the ‘Michael Jordan Era’.  Ewing, whom many consider to be the greatest Knick of all-time despite having never won an NBA title, would have enjoyed an even greater career if not for the Chicago Bulls’ legend.

[Note: Chicago, with Jordan, three-peated on two occasions and, had he not decided to play minor-league baseball, it is likely the Bulls won have won eight straight.  During each of its first four championship years, Chicago needed to eliminate Ewing’s teams; when New York finally advanced to the Finals in 1994, against the Houston Rockets, Jordan was already in the midst of his first retirement.]

Back to Reed.  With Russell now out of the league, the road to glory became a little easier to navigate.  The Knicks won 23 of 24, including a franchise-best 18 straight, to open the season, and cruised to its first 60-win campaign.  Meanwhile, the Celtics clearly missed Russell, who at 34, had averaged 19.3 rebounds and nearly 10 points per game in his final season.  Boston slumped to 34-48, under Tom Heinsohn, and finished 26 games off the pace.

This is not to say that May 8, 1970 is a totally meaningless date in Reed’s life.  His daughter, Veronica, had turned five that day and, for the young girl, it turned out to be a birthday present for the ages.

“May 8 was already a significant day in my life,” Reed, now 67, stated.  “But 1970 made it even more significant.”

To fully appreciate what occurred that day, it is necessary to know the events of May 4.  The afternoon had just begun when the National Guard opened fire at Kent State University [Ohio], killing four unarmed students during a Vietnam protest.  Approximately 430 miles further east, there was a basketball game to be played.  The championship series against Los Angeles was tied at two games apiece, and New York needed to win Game 5 to preserve its home court advantage.

However, just eight minutes into the game, Reed -who had already hit his first three shots- fell to the Garden floor as he attempted to maneuver around Wilt Chamberlain, who stood 7’1” and weighed 275 pounds.  Initially, it appeared that Reed’s right knee was injured, but that proved to be false; it was the pain in his right hip and thigh that was actually cause for concern.  Reed was sidelined for the duration, and watched as his teammates overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to win, 107-100.

When this series was chronicled in later years, either by the media or the participants, themselves, Game 5 is viewed as the turning point.  Though Chamberlain did score a game-high 22 points, he couldn’t dominate the triumvirate of Dave DeBusschere, Nate Bowman and Dave Stallworth.

But, with Reed sitting out Game 6, Chamberlain exacted revenge.  He scored 45 points, and added 27 boards.  West chipped in with 33 points and 13 assists, and Los Angeles was once again cast in a seventh game.

“If we don’t win the fifth game,” noted Reed, “the sixth game in L.A. would’ve ended the series.”

Reed had an inclination he would take part in the most important game of the season, even if both fans and teammates alike weren’t all that sure.

“When I awoke that morning, I knew I would play, but, I didn’t know how well I’d be able to play.”

As both teams hit the court for their warm-ups, Reed remained secluded in the trainer’s room, as Danny Whelan administered multiple hits of carbocaine to ease the pain.

“I can’t remember how many shots I had,” the captain would later say.  “I just remembered that the needle was big.”

As Reed hobbled onto the floor, Chamberlain and West stopped to observe.  For all intents and purposes, the Lakers were a beaten team.  A subsequent poll would declare his entrance the second greatest moment in all of New York sports, just behind Bobby Thomson’s home run that beat the Brooklyn Dodgers for the National League pennant in 1951.

“It added new elements of excitement and, maybe Red [coach Holzman] needed another shot of scotch, but I don’t think [my injury] made any difference [in how the series is remembered.]  You’d never know if Red was upset; you never saw him sweat.  He was always very cool, and under control.  That was one of his greatest attributes.”

Still, there was the not-so-small matter of actually playing the game.  Reed nailed two mid-range shots early, and the rout was on.

“Maybe, if I don’t make those shots, we don’t have this conversation.”

While Reed’s presence did provide the lightning rod, Walt Frazier had, perhaps, the greatest Game 7 in NBA history, if not all of sports.  Frazier tallied 36 points, 19 assists and seven rebounds, and received additional support from Dick Barnett [21 points], DeBusschere [18, with 17 boards] and Bill Bradley [17 points, five assists].

Los Angeles was outscored 31-18 during a critical second quarter, and Knicks stormed to a 27-point halftime advantage. West, who required pain-killings injections in both hands before the game, tallied 28, but Chamberlain missed 10 of 11 from the free throw line and the Knicks prevailed, 113-99 for its first title.

That’s how it was nearly four decades ago.

Yet, Reed has his sights on another milestone.

“I hope all of us are still here when we get to our 50^th [anniversary],” he laughed.  “I can’t wait to do this in another ten years.”

“Then, I was at the University of South Carolina, as an assistant to Frank McGuire,” said the Riverside [Bronx] native, who is now in his second year as president of basketball operations.  “But, I don’t think Legends Night is limited to New Yorkers.  I know it was really felt here, but throughout the history of basketball, that team exemplified what you’d want if you were a coach.  They were smart and talented –more talented than, perhaps, they were given credit for- and played that way.”

On Monday evening, during halftime of their game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the organization and its loyal fans celebrated the 40th anniversary of that championship squad. The event, formally billed as the Second Annual Knicks Legends Night, also honored Cal Ramsey with the newly-named Dick McGuire Knickerbocker Legacy Award, which is emblematic of the team’s pride and tradition.  McGuire, who had turned 84 just eight days before his death on February 3, was affiliated with the organization for more than a half century.

The on-court festivities occurred six months to the day that another local team was honored for a similar milestone.  But, unlike the Amazin’ Mets ascension to the top of the baseball world in 1969, the older Knicks didn’t surprise anyone.  After all, New York had posted the fourth best record in the 14-team NBA during the previous season, although they somehow finished in third place, three games behind the 57-25 Baltimore Bullets, in the very competitive Eastern Division.  By contrast, the 1968 Mets had finished ninth in a ten-team division, a robust 24 games off the pace.

William ‘Red’ Holzman, the wily coach who posted a franchise-best 613 victories, led the Knicks to a 23-1 start, including a team-high 18 consecutive wins.  A nine-game winning streak, from January 23-February 3, 1970 bumped the record to a whopping 47-11.  New York would win the division by a slim four games over the Bucks, who featured future Hall-of-Fame center Lew Alcindor [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar] and Flynn Robinson, a journeyman guard.

The Knicks placed Dave DeBusschere, Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier and Willis Reed on the All-Defensive Team, and Reed was the first player to capture the MVP trifecta [All-Star, Finals, and Regular Season] in the same season.

Reed’s upper thigh injury in Game 5, and subsequent dramatic entrance during warm-ups before Game 7, remain a signature moment in NBA history.  Though his surprise return to the court inspired his teammates and further juiced the capacity crowd, it was Frazier who sealed the victory with 36 points, 19 assists, and seven rebounds in the 113-99 clincher.  Clyde’s performance is perhaps both the greatest, and most unheralded, in any championship series finale.

All but two of the surviving members appeared.  The first was forward Dave Stallworth, who returned from a heart attack to become a vital contributor.  The other was Phil Jackson, who won a record 10th title when the Los Angeles Lakers bested the Orlando Magic in 2009, was in Memphis as his team prepared for its game against the Grizzlies on Tuesday.  Jackson, who deliberated coaching this season due to “health issues,” ultimately declined an invitation.

Ironically, the 6’8” forward, a noted defensive specialist, did not play any games for New York that season, as he was confined to the injured reserve list with a back injury; Jackson, however, remained close to the squad while assisting George Kalinsky, the famed Garden photographer, throughout his rehabilitation.

Holzman, GM Eddie Donovan and trainer Danny Whelan are deceased, as is DeBusschere and reserve center Nate Bowman.  Debusschere, who had earlier pitched a shutout for the Chicago White Sox in 1963, is best remembered by younger fans for his exuberance after winning the Patrick Ewing-lottery in 1985 while serving as general manager.

Each of the five decedents was represented by family members.

If Martin Brodeur, the New Jersey goalie who has re-written the record books during 18 years of brilliance, played at Madison Square Garden instead of the other side of the Hudson River, his monument would’ve already been erected on the corner of 7^th Avenue and 33^rd Street.

When Brodeur blanked the defending-champion Penguins, 4-0, on December 21, for his record-setting 104th regular season shutout, he had claimed the last important mark for his position.

His accomplishment is even more remarkable when one factoid is examined.  From the beginning of the 1974-75 season until Brodeur’s debut in March 1992, the whitewash tally was Rangers -34, Future Hall-of-Fame Goaltender -0.

Thus, at the close of business on that record-setting night and -despite a 17 year disadvantage- Brodeur was just one shutout behind New York’s collective total over the last 35 years [the Rangers needed 39 different goalies to post 105 shutouts].

Brodeur –who had previously established NHL highs for games played, minutes played and wins pitched two shutout periods this time around.  But, because of a three-goal spurt by New York during the middle stanza, he lost both the shutout and any chance for a win.

With a week to go, the Colts are favored between four and five points, depending on which line is more advantageous for the bettor.  Essentially, the oddsmakers are saying that one big play will determine the champion.

In that respect, Archie Manning -much like Parker Lewis- can’t lose.

Indianapolis -with Peyton Manning at QB- has a piece of Archie’s bloodline.

New Orleans -where the elder Manning once took snaps and where he and his wife, Olivia, still live- has a piece of his heart.

“We don’t have royalty in America, but the Mannings of New Orleans are kind of like the Kennedys of Massachusetts,” Bobby Hebert, another former Saints quarterback told the NY Daily News.  “But, come Sunday, there’s going to be a revolution. There will be anarchy. There will be hatin’ on Peyton.”

Archie, who experienced 10 losing seasons in the Crescent City, and is arguably the most beloved player in team history, has already watched his sons, Peyton [with the 2007 Colts] and Eli [with the 2008 Giants], win the MVP trophy of their respectable Super Bowls.

But, this will be different.

Peyton is, hands down, the most prolific NFL player born and raised in New Orleans.  He is also the one man who stands between the Saints’ brush with greatness after four decades of failure.

“I’m going to be pulling for my son,” Manning told Hebert on Sports Radio WWL AM870/FM105.3 in the Bayou.  “[Head coach] Sean Payton knows that; he’s a great friend of mine.  [Current QB] Drew Brees knows that. That’s just the way it is.  Anyone who thinks it’s different must not have children.”

Still, it could be worse.

“Archie’s worst nightmare would be Peyton versus Eli [for all the marbles],” Hebert relayed.  “He said he’d have to root for both offenses.”

This is a tale of two teams who played a football game at the same venue. One end zone was defended by the New York Giants -co-tenants of the East Rutherford, NJ complex; the other was claimed by the displaced New Orleans Saints, who have now become the sentimental favorite of the National Football League. For sixteen weeks of the 2005-06 regular season, Giants Stadium is the home turf for both Big Blue and their AFC counterpart, the New York Jets.  But, because of a league edict that went into effect on September 5, the Giants’ Week 2 match-up was deemed a road contest.

“I was looking forward to playing in the Superdome,” said Eli Manning, the Giants’ highly-touted quarterback, who was raised in New Orleans. “Hopefully I will be able to play there in the future; we’ll have to see about that.”

The game, which was won by the Giants, 27-10, was part of an unprecedented Monday Night Football doubleheader. The Hurricane Katrina relief effort was in full force [ www.BushClintonKatrina Fund.org ], with an elite array of active and retired NFL stars manning the telephone lines inside Times Square’s ESPNZone.

When the league schedule was first announced, the Giants were to visit the New Orleans’ Superdome on September 18. But, the devastation created in the Gulf Coast forced the NFL to reroute the game to New Jersey. By default, the Saints have become America’s Team, which is insanely ironic because there was a time -a quarter-century ago- when the team was known as the ‘Aints.’ In 1980, New Orleans lost their first 14 games, which prompted whatever fans remained to wear paper bags over their heads during home games.

Such sarcasm would become vogue, as fans of other underachieving teams –first within the NFL, then other American team sports- established a tradition throughout the United States.

The country has rallied to lend aid, even after eyebrows were raised as a result of the immediate inactions of our government and FEMA, and the New Orleans Saints -along with other college and professional teams- have begun to rise above.

Just four years ago, after the gutless 9/11 attacks, Major League Baseball faced a similar dilemma. To play or not to play. To cancel or to reschedule. When words of love for both New York and its Yankees were evoked in Boston, of all places, it was truly a sign o’ the times.

For the first time in a long time, the Saints matter -even if the tragic circumstances have much to do with that assessment.

“These guys have got a spirit about them that I hope will continue for the rest of the season,’’ marveled New Orleans’ Head Coach Jim Haslett.

Paper bags will not be worn to any Saints’ games this season, largely because they ain’t the Aints no more. Today, every football fan is proud to support them.

The game that was played at MSG on Sunday afternoon would be listed in such a category, for the New York Knocks was on the wrong side of history.  That’s what 128-78, in favor of the Dallas Mavericks, will do.  A 50-pont butt-kicking, particularly in front of the home crowd, is strong enough to make young children weep and grown-ups search for answers that just aren’t there.

“Nothing was good today,” coach Mike Daytona mused.

“They played a very aggressive defense,” Wilson Chandler said in a barely audible voice.

“Not only didn’t we play well, but they played as well as they could.  It was the perfect storm,” David Lee philosophized.

The loss was the worst game on any Garden floor, eclipsing the-then Charlotte Hornets’ 111-68 romp on Martin Luther King Day, 2002.  It was the Knicks’ largest margin of defeat since losing by 45 points to the Boston Celtics, in a nationally televised game during the 2007-08 season.

To think the Mavs were capable of something like this without Jason Kidd, who reportedly was back in Dallas with his very-pregnant girlfriend, is unfathomable.

To think the Knicks are still considered a playoff team is equally unfathomable.

The media was reminded, once more, that it was just one game of 82 –which translates into one more lost opportunity to close in on the eighth-place Chicago Bulls.

Then, the Jets were instilled as 17-point ‘dogs, which ultimately prompted Joe Namath -the brash, young quarterback of the American Football League champions- to guarantee victory.  [Note: that game was the last Don Shula coached for Baltimore, as a contract dispute with owner Carroll Rosenbloom paved the way for his move to Miami].

Forty-one years later, it is Rex Ryan, the rookie coach, who is on the hook for such pearls of wisdom; he has already gone so far as to plan the subsequent ticker-tape parade.  It is laughable, now, that Ryan was apologetic immediately following New York’s 10-7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on December 20.

The most significant moment of the Jets’ season occurred in Week 16, when Jim Caldwell, the coach of the then-14-0 Colts decided to prematurely end his team’s regular season.  Ahead 15-10 in the third quarter, Caldwell felt the urge to bench Peyton Manning -the league’s best quarterback- and a host of other starters for fear of injury.

The fans inside Lucas Oil Stadium were not pleased.  Soon, Indy’s unbeaten season was gone, as well as the record 23-game winning streak it had built.

Had the Colts won, the Jets would’ve been eliminated from playoff contention, and Ryan’s apology would have proven to be prophetic.  However, New York rolled past Cincinnati on consecutive weeks to continue its magical season, and is now in position to send Indianapolis packing with a 60 minute game for the ages.

Which is all it would take to complete a belated trip to Super Sunday.