Walt Frazier joined forces with probable No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton on Monday at a pop-up shop across the street from Barclays Center — site of Thursday night’s NBA draft.
A new run of Puma Clyde sneakers are back, and the company, in its bid to plunge back into basketball, has added the versatile center as its top endorser.
The University of Arizona one-and-doner is expected to be selected No. 1 by the Suns. While Frazier interviewed Ayton on stage during a ceremony and told him to carry on the Puma tradition for another 40 years, the Knicks legend later told The Post he still believes 7-foot-3 Kristaps Porzingis should have the more noteworthy career.
Ayton has been compared to Porzingis in that he’s often been called a unicorn — the nickname first bestowed upon Porzingis by Kevin Durant during Porzingis’ rookie year.
“[Ayton] handles the ball well, very fluid with the ball,’’ Frazier said. “But he doesn’t have the 3-ball range like KP, but he has the other stuff — movement agility around the basket, shot-blocking. Right now I don’t think this kid has a 3 [-point shot] in his repertoire. It’s something he has to acquire. Those [old-school] center guys can’t compete now — they’re relegated to the benches. But [Ayton] can guard guards. He has the ability to do that.’’
Ayton told Frazier he was nearly 6-10 at age 13 and takes pride in guarding smaller guys. Ayton was asked about the unicorn moniker.
“I just look at unicorn as a person who is a two-way player. A player who plays both ends of the floor,” he said.
Thursday could mark a step in the direction of another Knicks’ championship, though it seems so far away. The Knicks select ninth.
While Ayton is the newest Puma salesman, Frazier is the first, joining in 1973. And Monday, after he arrived in the same white Rolls-Royce model he once owned, Frazier signed a lifetime contract. Frazier’s line will sell for $73 — a number symbolic of the last time the Knicks won the NBA title.
“We need a scorer,’’ Frazier said. “I don’t think they’re going to go for another point guard. I think they should go with a wing. We have to have one of these [young point guards] pan out this year, step up and distinguish themselves.’’
If point guard Trae Young or small forward Michael Porter Jr. doesn’t drop, the Knicks may have to decide between junior small forward Mikal Bridges of Villanova, a safer choice, or Kentucky freshman Kevin Knox, who had a powerful workout for the Knicks on Saturday, according to sources. DraftExpress, a noted mock draft, made the switch to Knox at nine soon after the workout.
Frazier, the best point guard the Knicks ever had, believes Frank Ntilikina, last year’s first-round pick, still has to prove himself.
MORE ON THE FORMER NEW YORK KNICKERBOCKER ICON, WALT FRAZIER
@WaltFrazier
Walter “Clyde” Frazier (born March 29, 1945) is an American former basketball player in the National Basketball Association. As their floor general, he led the New York Knicks to the franchise’s only two championships (1970 and 1973), and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987. Upon his retirement from basketball, Frazier went into broadcasting; he is currently a color commentator for telecasts of Knicks games on the MSG Network.
The eldest of nine children, Frazier attended Atlanta’s David Tobias Howard High School. He quarterbacked the football team and played catcher on the baseball team. He learned basketball on a rutted and dirt playground, the only facility available at his all-black school in the racially segregated South of the 1950s. After Howard, Frazier attended Southern Illinois University. Although he was offered other scholarships for his football skills, Frazier accepted a basketball offer from Southern Illinois University, saying that “there were no black quarterbacks, so I played basketball.”
SIU moved up from Division II to Division I in 1967, and Frazier and SIU won the National Invitation Tournament, beating Marquette University 71-56 in the final, in the last college basketball game played at the old Madison Square Garden in New York. Frazier was named Most Valuable Player of the 1967 tournament.
Frazier was drafted 5th overall by the New York Knicks. He scored just 2 points in a 13-point loss against the Detroit Pistons in his NBA debut, and became one of five NBA players to be named to the NBA All-Rookie team during the 1967-68 NBA season.
After averaging only 9.0 points per game during his rookie year, Frazier’s 17.5 points, 7.9 assists, and 6.2 rebounds per game averages in his second year playing for New York made him one of the most improved players in the league.
1970 Breakthrough Year and First NBA Championship
Frazier was chosen for the All-Star team for the first time in his career during the 1969-70 NBA season. He would go on to be selected to 7 all-star teams over the course of his 10-year stint with the Knicks.
The Knicks were able to make it all the way to the NBA finals during the 1969-70 NBA playoffs thanks to the great play of both Walt Frazier and star teammate Willis Reed. However, in game 5, Reed suffered a horrific leg injury, making him unable to walk for the next few days. With Reed out, chances of the Knicks winning the championship were slim.
However, Reed somehow returned to the series, playing the first two minutes of game 7 and scoring the first two points of the game. Reed was simply in too much pain to continue to play for the last 46 minutes of the game, meaning that it was up to Frazier to lead New York to the victory. Frazier scored 36 points, had 19 assists, 7 rebounds, and 6 steals that game.
His astounding performance is arguably the greatest game in NBA playoff history, as it was the only reason why New York was able to defeat the Lakers and win the championship. ESPN is one of the many websites to call Frazier’s incredible game the greatest game 7 performance ever.
New York struggled mightily at first after the addition of Earl Monroe, and were unable to make it past the second round of the playoffs despite Frazier’s great 20.4 points per game average during the second series.
Frazier and the Knicks once again won the NBA championship in 1973, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in a quick 5-game series. Frazier’s defense on NBA superstar Jerry West played a major role in defeating the star-filled team. This would be the second and final NBA title the Knicks would ever win, meaning that Walt Frazier was a member of every championship Knick team in NBA history.
In 1976, Frazier was selected for his seventh and final NBA All-Star team.
While playing for them, he picked up the nickname “Clyde” because he wore a hat similar to that of Warren Beatty, who played Clyde Barrow in the 1967 movieBonnie and Clyde. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1968.
Frazier held Knicks franchise records for most games (759), minutes played (28,995), field goals attempted (11,669), field goals made (5,736), free throws attempted (4,017), free throws made (3,145), assists (4,791) and points (14,617). CenterPatrick Ewing eventually broke most of those records, but Frazier’s assists record still stands.
Cleveland Cavaliers
After ten years in New York, Frazier ended his career as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Frazier was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers after the 1976-77 NBA season for the younger Jim Clemons. The trade left the NBA world stunned, as hundreds of people were furious that New York was willing to let go of arguably their greatest player in franchise history. Frazier played only 66 games over the course of three seasons with the Cavaliers. He retired in the 1979-80 NBA season.
Honors
Frazier’s #10 jersey was retired by the New York Knicks on December 15, 1979.
Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, with Pete Maravich and Rick Barry in 1987
Elected to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996.
In September 2012, Frazier was honored by the Ride of Fame and a double-decker tour bus in New York City was dedicated to him.
NBA career statistics
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Denotes season in which Frazier won an NBA championship |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967–68 | New York | 74 | 21.5 | .451 | .655 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 9.0 | ||||
| 1968–69 | New York | 80 | 36.9 | .505 | .746 | 6.2 | 7.9 | 17.5 | ||||
| 1969–70† | New York | 77 | 39.5 | .518 | .748 | 6.0 | 8.2 | 20.9 | ||||
| 1970–71 | New York | 80 | 43.2 | .494 | .779 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 21.7 | ||||
| 1971–72 | New York | 77 | 40.6 | .512 | .808 | 6.7 | 5.8 | 23.2 | ||||
| 1972–73† | New York | 78 | 40.8 | .490 | .817 | 7.3 | 5.9 | 21.1 | ||||
| 1973–74 | New York | 80 | 41.7 | .472 | .838 | 6.7 | 6.9 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 20.5 | ||
| 1974–75 | New York | 78 | 41.1 | .483 | .828 | 6.0 | 6.1 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 21.5 | ||
| 1975–76 | New York | 59 | 41.1 | .485 | .823 | 6.8 | 5.9 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 19.1 | ||
| 1976–77 | New York | 76 | 35.4 | .489 | .771 | 3.9 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 17.4 | ||
| 1977–78 | Cleveland | 51 | 32.6 | .471 | .850 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 16.2 | ||
| 1978–79 | Cleveland | 12 | 23.3 | .443 | .778 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 10.8 | ||
| 1979–80 | Cleveland | 3 | 9.0 | .364 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 3.3 | |
| Career | 825 | ? | 37.5 | .490 | .000 | .786 | 5.9 | 6.1 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 18.9 | |
| All-Star | 7 | 7 | 26.1 | .449 | .857 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 12.6 | ||
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | New York | 4 | 29.8 | .364 | .778 | 5.5 | 6.3 | 9.5 | ||||
| 1969 | New York | 10 | 41.5 | .503 | .596 | 7.4 | 9.1 | 21.2 | ||||
| 1970† | New York | 19 | 43.9 | .478 | .764 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 16.0 | ||||
| 1971 | New York | 12 | 41.8 | .529 | .733 | 5.8 | 4.5 | 22.6 | ||||
| 1972 | New York | 16 | 44.0 | .536 | .736 | 7.0 | 6.1 | 24.3 | ||||
| 1973† | New York | 17 | 45.0 | .514 | .777 | 7.3 | 6.2 | 21.9 | ||||
| 1974 | New York | 12 | 40.9 | .502 | .898 | 7.9 | 4.0 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 22.5 | ||
| 1975 | New York | 3 | 41.3 | .630 | .813 | 6.7 | 7.0 | 3.7 | 0.0 | 23.7 | ||
| Career | 93 | ? | 42.5 | .511 | .751 | 7.2 | 6.4 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 20.7 | ||
Career highlights
| Occurred in playoff competition |
| Assists | Opponent | Home/Away | Date | Minutes played |
Points | Rebounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Los Angeles Lakers | Home | May 8, 1970 | 44 | 36 | 7 |
| 17 | Baltimore Bullets | Away | March 30, 1969 | 44 | 26 | 7 |
| 16 | Philadelphia 76ers | Away | January 22, 1969 | 22 | ||
| 16 | Los Angeles Lakers | Home | February 18, 1969 | 30 | ||
| 16 | Philadelphia 76ers | Away | March 9, 1969 | 18 | ||
| 16 | San Francisco Warriors | Home | October 23, 1969 | 18 | ||
| 16 | Phoenix Suns | Away | December 28, 1969 | 42 | 12 | 1 |
Frazier scored 40 or more points five times in the regular season.
| Points | Opponent | Home/Away | Date | Minutes played |
FGM | FGA | FTM | FTA | Rebounds | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44 | Los Angeles Lakers | Away | November 2, 1973 | 46 | 20 | 28 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 |
| 43 | San Diego Rockets | Home | October 30, 1969 | 14 | 22 | 15 | 19 | |||
| 43 | Phoenix Suns | Away | January 11, 1975 | 48 | 17 | 24 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 5 |
| 41 | Cincinnati Royals | Home | January 1, 1972 | 45 | 17 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 3 |
| 41 | Indiana Pacers | Away | March 31, 1977 | 45 | 12 | 20 | 17 | 20 | 7 | 11 |
| Stat | High | Opponent | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 44 | at Los Angeles Lakers | November 2, 1973 |
| Points, half (2nd) | 29 | vs. Cincinnati Royals | January 1, 1972 |
| Field goal percentage | 18—22 (.818) | at Buffalo Braves | December 17, 1971 |
| Field goals made | 20 | at Los Angeles Lakers | November 2, 1973 |
| Field goal attempts | 28 | at Los Angeles Lakers | November 2, 1973 |
| Free throws made | 17 | at Indiana Pacers | March 31, 1977 |
| Free throw attempts | 20 | vs. Seattle SuperSonics | December 2, 1969 |
| Free throw attempts | 20 | at Indiana Pacers | March 31, 1977 |
| Rebounds | 16 | ||
| Steals | 6 | at Indiana Pacers | March 31, 1977 |
| Blocked shots |
| Stat | High | Opponent | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 38 | vs. Capital Bullets | April 7, 1974 |
| Points | 38 | at Boston Celtics | April 19, 1974 |
| Field goal percentage | |||
| Field goals made | 16 | vs. Capital Bullets | April 7, 1974 |
| Field goal attempts | 31 | ||
| Free throws made, none missed | 12—12 | vs. Los Angeles Lakers | May 8, 1970 |
| Free throws made | 12 | vs. Los Angeles Lakers | May 8, 1970 |
| Free throw attempts | 15 | at Boston Celtics | April 23, 1972 |
| Rebounds | 16 | vs. Baltimore Bullets | April 2, 1970 |
| Assists | 19 | vs. Los Angeles Lakers | May 8, 1970 |
| Steals | |||
| Blocked shots |
Frazier is also known for his iconic fashion sense and unique style. The website Clyde So Fly catalogs and grades every suit he wears while broadcasting New York Knicks games on the MSG Network.
Frazier also has a line of Puma sneakers named after him. The promotional material references Frazier’s “signature colorful style”.
He lives in Harlem with his long-term girfriend, Patricia James, and they also have a home in St. Croix. He is the father of a son referred to both as Walt Jr. and, later, Walt III. Frazier is a member of the fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha.
MORE ON Deandre Ayton
Deandre Ayton (born July 23, 1998) is a Bahamian basketball player who most recently played for the Arizona Wildcats in the Pac-12 Conference in the 2017–18 season. He was a consensus five-star prospect in the Class of 2017, and was selected as a McDonald’s All-American. Many compare Ayton to David Robinson and Anthony Davis.
Early life
Ayton was born to Alvin and Andrea Ayton. He has four siblings. Ayton was born in Nassau, Bahamas and moved to San Diego, California in the United States when he was young. Ayton was first scouted by an Annual Bahamian basketball magazine called The Bahamian Basketball Yearbook. At the time, Ayton, then a 12-year-old tuba and soccer player, was scouted by The All Bahamian Brand was visiting Bahamas Academy High School, a tiny private school then located on Wulff Road in Nassau. The scouts came when Ayton was at band practice, rather than basketball practice, but were impressed by his 6’5″ frame.
High School career
Ayton attended Balboa City School in San Diego, California and started on the varsity basketball team for two years. As a sophomore in 2014–15, Ayton led Balboa to a 17-14 record, averaging 21 points, 16 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game. He racked up double-doubles in 21 of 22 regular season games. That summer, he averaged 16.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks a game for Supreme Court AAU (California) on the Under Armour circuit. He transferred from Balboa City School.
As a junior in 2015–16, he elected to transfer to Hillcrest Prep Academy in Phoenix, Arizona for two more years, During this high school year, he became teammates with another top-tier Class of 2017 player in Marvin Bagley III. Throughout his junior year, Ayton averaged 29.2 points, 16.7 rebounds, 3.8 blocks per game.
As a senior in 2016–17, Ayton led Hillcrest to a 33-6 record and national rankings across multiple outlets while averaging 26 points, 15 rebounds and 3.5 blocks. While representing the World Select team, Ayton played at the 2016 Nike Hoop Summit, chipping in with eight points to go along with seven rebounds.
Recruiting
Ayton was considered the top player in the 2017 recruiting class by Scout.com, Rivals.com and ESPN. In 2015, he was ranked by Scout as the top prospect in all of high school in their “Ultimate 100” list. He had narrowed his choices between three schools: Arizona, Kansas and Kentucky. On September 6, 2016, DeAndre committed to play for the Arizona Wildcats[13][14][15], and he signed his letter of intent.
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeAndre Ayton C |
Phoenix, AZ | Hillcrest Prep Academy (AZ) | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Sep 6, 2016 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: |
||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 5 Rivals: 3 247Sports: 4 ESPN: 3 | ||||||
College career
Ayton made his debut with the University of Arizona on November 10, 2017, recording 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks in a 101–67 win over the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. His 19 points was 7th most for a Freshman in an Arizona debut. On December 9, 2017, Ayton recorded what was, at the time, a season-high 29 points and 18 rebounds in an 88–82 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide. On December 30, 2017, against the in-state rival Arizona State Sun Devils, he recorded 19 rebounds, which would be a season-high at the time. On January 20, 2018, against Stanford, he blocked 6 shots, which tied him for most in Arizona Freshman single game history. He has also recorded 17 20-point games and 23 double-doubles through 34 games.
On March 3, 2018, after their last regular season home game against California, where he’d record 26 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in a 66–54 win over California, head coach Sean Miller honored Ayton, as well as underclassmen Rawle Alkinsand Allonzo Trier, with confirmations that they’d all be entering the 2018 NBA Draft at the end of this season. On March 9, Ayton would record a career-high 32 points with 14 rebounds in a 78–67 overtime win against UCLA. He’d tie that career-high for points the next day alongside grabbing 18 rebounds in the Pac-12 Championship game against USC, where the Wildcats won 75–61. Ayton would be named the Pac-12 Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player during the event.
At the end of the regular season, Ayton was named both the Pac-12’s Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year, as well as become a member of the All Pac-12 first team and All Pac-12 first team in the Associated Press. He would also be named one of the consensus members of the All-American First Team throughout multiple organizations. Ayton was also one of three freshman to be a part of the All-American First Team, joining Marvin Bagley III and Trae Young for the most consensus freshmen First Team members in a season. Following Arizona’s upset loss to Buffalo University in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Ayton announced his intention to forgo his final three seasons of collegiate eligibility and declare for the 2018 NBA draft, where he is expected to be a top-tier lottery selection, if not potential #1 draft pick. On April 26, 2018, it was announced that Ayton had signed with agent Nima Namakian of BDA Sports.
All-time Arizona Freshman Leader Ranks:
- Total Points – 704††, 1st
- Points per Game – 20.1††, 2nd
- Field Goals Made – 276††, 1st
- Field Goals Attempts – 451††, 2nd
- Field Goal Percentage (min. 100 FG) – .612, 1st
- Free Throws Made – 140, 3rd
- Field Throw Attempts – 191, 3rd
- Total Rebounds – 405††‡, 1st
- Rebounds per Game – 11.6††, 1st
- Blocks – 66, 1st
- Games Played – 35, T-10th
- Games Started – 35, T-5th
- Minutes Played – 1,172, 3rd
- Minutes per Game – 33.5, 5th
- Double-Doubles – 24†‡, 1st
- 30-Point Games – 2, T-4th
- 20-Point Games – 17, T-1st
- Double-Digit Scoring Games – 33, 1st
- Field Goal Attempts in a Game – 23, 4th
- Field Goal Percentage In A Game (Min. 12 attempts) – .916 (11-12)†, 1st
- Made Free Throws In A Game – 12(twice), T-7th
- Free Throw Attempts In A Game – 17, 5th
- Free Throw Percentage In A Game (Min. 10 attempts) – 1.000 (12-12), T-1st
- Rebounds In A Game – 20, 3rd
- Blocks In A Game – 6, T-1st
- Most Points In NCAA Debut – 19, 7th
† denotes single-season Arizona record holder, regardless of class †† denotes yearly Pac-12 leader ‡ denotes Pac-12 single-season record holder
College statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Arizona | 35 | 35 | 33.5 | .612 | .343 | .733 | 11.6 | 1.6 | .6 | 1.9 | 20.1 |
Player profile
Ayton is known for being a physically demanding center at 7’1″, with a weight of 260 pounds being reported during his time at the University of Arizona. His wingspan has been projected to be at 7’5″, while his vertical leap is slated to be at 43.5″. He sees his game as something akin to Hakeem Olajuwon‘s (primarily with his footwork, which allows him to keep up with smaller players) with a strong competitive mentality, noting that he is considered the hardest competitor of everyone entering the 2018 NBA Draft.
Accomplishments and awards
High School
- All-USA Boys Basketball First Team (2017)
- Naismith High School Boys All-America first team (2017)
- Maxpreps High School Boys Basketball All-American third team (2017)
University of Arizona
- Karl Malone Award (2018)
- All Pac-12 tournament team (2018)
- Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player (2018)
- NBC Sports First Team All-American (2018)
- AP Pac-12 Player of the Year (2018)
- AP Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year (2018)
- AP Pac-12 First Team All-American (2018)
- USA Today First Team All-American (2018)
- Sporting News First Team All-American (2018)
- Pac-12 Player of the Year (2018)
- Pac-12 Freshman Player of the Year (2018)
- All Pac-12 First team (2018)
- All Pac-12 Freshman team (2018)
- All Pac-12 Defensive team (2018)
- USBWA District IX Player of the Year (2018)
- USBWA District IX All-District team (2018)
- USBWA First Team All-American (2018)
- NABC First Team All-American (2018)
- NABC District 20 First team (2018)
- AP First Team All-American (2018)
National team career
Ayton participated in the 2016 Centrobasket, the regional basketball championship of FIBA Americas for the Central American and Caribbean subzone where he averaged a tournament-leading 11.1 rebounds per game.
Endorsements
In 2018 it was announced he would be sponsored by Puma SE after the German company announced that they would be joining the basketball market.
