{"id":21114,"date":"2021-06-30T17:34:12","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T22:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=21114"},"modified":"2021-06-30T17:34:12","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T22:34:12","slug":"when-the-new-york-knicks-were-on-top-nba-hall-of-famers-and-knickerbocker-legends-willis-reed-clyde-frazier-take-you-inside-knicks-1970-nba-title-run-congratulations-on-the-nyc-kni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=21114","title":{"rendered":"When the New York Knicks Were on Top, NBA HALL OF FAMERS AND KNICKERBOCKER LEGENDS, “Willis Reed, Clyde Frazier”, take you inside Knicks\u2019 1970 NBA title run. CONGRATULATIONS ON THE NYC KNICKERBOCKER INCREDIBLE NBA RUN, 3 STRAIGHT FINALS, 2 GREAT WINS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Willis Reed, Clyde Frazier take you inside Knicks\u2019 1970 NBA title run<\/h1>\n

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Q: The mindset of the team in training camp after losing to the Celtics in the 1969 Eastern Division finals?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: Championship.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: We thought we had all the pieces. We knew that (the Celtics\u2019 Bill) Russell and Sam Jones were supposed to be retiring. And we knew that there\u2019s no way they could replace Russell and Sam Jones both, and we thought we were gonna be the best team in the East.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: The 18-game winning streak?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: By the third quarter, the starting team was on the bench.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: The Bullets first-round, seven-game playoff series?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: We had some great matchups. We had Dave DeBusschere and Gus (Johnson), and myself and Wes (Unseld), and then Jack Marin and Cazzie (Russell) and Bill (Bradley). And we had Earl (Monroe) and Clyde, and Freddie Carter and (Dick) Barnett.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: It\u2019s always hell with the Bullets. When you win, you lose (laugh). It\u2019s gonna be so physical \u2026 every matchup was like an All-Star matchup. They liked to run, and we knew that if we could hang close, we could pull it out in the end because of our teamwork and our defense.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: The Bucks and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were next.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: I thought the advantage we had against him was he was just a young player. I knew that if I didn\u2019t play close to the basket, if I went away from the basket a ways, that he wasn\u2019t gonna go.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Clyde thought that you intimidated Kareem.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: No. He was just a young player.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: Willis roughed him up, forcing him further out than he wanted to be with the sky hook. We kinda imposed our will on them because we knew they were kind of a young team.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Knicks\"<\/a><\/strong>
Willis Reed and Walt \u201cClyde\u201d Frazier
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Q: You thought that Willis intimidated Kareem?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: Oh yeah, yeah. He was appalled by how Willis was throwing him around.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Then the mighty Lakers. The reaction when Jerry West hit that 60-foot buzzer-beater to force overtime in Game 3?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: Well, DeBusschere did it best, he fell down (laugh). DeBusschere crumpled to the floor, man. When we go back to the huddle (Red) Holzman is always cool and calm: \u201cAll right guys, come on, we gotta play five more minutes, we\u2019ll pull it out.\u201d And I\u2019m saying to myself, \u201cWait man, if God wanted us to win that game, He wouldn\u2019t have let that shot go in.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: (Prolonged laugh). If I remember correctly, DeBusschere had ran back, was standing under the basket, when the ball went through the basket, he fell flat on his back (laugh).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Do you remember the huddle before OT began?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: Everybody was going through their own emotion and stuff and disorganized, and Barnett said, \u201cHey, man, what\u2019s wrong with you guys? This game\u2019s not over \u2014 it just started.\u201d That was the kind of thing that I liked about that team; you always had somebody else ready to go get it done.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: What were your immediate thoughts when Willis went down (torn thigh muscle) driving to the basket in the first quarter of Game 5?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: There goes the series! When The Captain was lying on the floor in pain, I wasn\u2019t sure if he could return or not.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: It was just one of those things. You\u2019re saying, \u201cHow bad could our luck be?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: That incredible second-half Game 5 comeback, when undersized Dave Stallworth somehow helped contain Wilt Chamberlain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: At halftime we changed our offense, we went to a more college 1-3-1 opening up the court so that Chamberlain had to come on the perimeter, and Stallworth was a good guy off the dribble, so he was able to create a lot of havoc.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: On any one night, any one player could be the leading scorer. Most of our players had been great offensive college players. We were hard to beat at Madison Square Garden with our fans.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: What was it like for you on the bench watching Wilt (45 points, 27 rebounds) lead the Game 6 rout?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wills: We knew we were gonna fight another day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: But you didn\u2019t know if you were gonna fight another day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: Listen, I believe if I didn\u2019t play, I believe we would have won at home. But I didn\u2019t want them to play in that big dance without me, though.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Q: You were The Captain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: A captain is a responsibility. You don\u2019t tell guys what to do, you show guys what to do.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: What made Willis The Captain?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: His leadership qualities; he\u2019s a man\u2019s man. Nobody gives more effort than Willis. With the players, he was the most generous person that you\u2019ll ever meet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: What percent chance did you think you had to play?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: I always believed I was gonna play.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: The team left Los Angeles the next morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: I left that night after the game so I could start getting treatments the next day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: On your walk from the New Yorker Hotel to the Garden on May 8, was it painful?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: Well, walking didn\u2019t hurt. When you extended the leg where you had to use all of the muscles, that\u2019s when it hurt.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: You got there around noon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: Basically I was getting whirlpool, heat packs, cold packs, all that kind of stuff on the muscle in my leg.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Who was going to defend Wilt?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: I was living at the New Yorker Hotel on 34th and 8th, so when I went to the game I made a few calls during the day, no one knew anything whether Willis would play or not. Only when we got to the arena did we realize that he was still hurting, he had been there all day getting treatment, and still was questionable for the game.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Willis Reed Game: Revisiting Knicks’ legendary title 50 years later<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Q: Did you wear a special game-day outfit?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: That day I wasn\u2019t concerned with my outfit. \u2026 I can\u2019t even remember what I wore for that game because I was so concerned with Willis, \u2018Was he gonna play, man?\u2019 Knowing that without him, we didn\u2019t really have a chance to win that game.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Every Knick was concerned?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: We were all in the training room and Holzman ran us out: \u201cHey guys, whether Willis plays or not, we have to. Go get ready mentally to play the game.\u201d He was looking apprehensive, he was sitting up in the corner leaning on the wall like maybe 50-50, \u201cI don\u2019t know, I might give it a try.\u201d He wasn\u2019t that sure what he would do. So then when we left, Willis was still in there with the door closed, so we had no idea whether he was coming out or not.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Willis told me there was no way he wasn\u2019t gonna play.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: Yeah, but he didn\u2019t tell us that.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: How close to game time did Dr. James Parkes administer the cortisone shot?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: I probably should have had it a little earlier. The players were warming up when I went out on the floor. We were within 15 minutes of game time, for sure.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: What was going through your mind as you were limping through the tunnel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: I said to myself, \u201cAs a kid you dream of being in the championship games.\u201d And I\u2019m saying, \u201cBoy, this is a helluva predicament you\u2019re in. You gotta go out there and play the best big man offensively that ever played the game, and you gotta try to play him on one leg (laugh).\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: When the crowd first saw you, how loud was it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: On a Friday night in Madison Square Garden, the crowd is gonna be ready, they\u2019re gonna be rocking, and they were.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Did you see him immediately?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: Well first you hear this roar of the crowd. Then you turn around and see what\u2019s going on, and that was Willis limping out of the tunnel. And I\u2019ll never forget, I saw Chamberlain, I saw (Elgin) Baylor, I saw West \u2014 they just stopped what they were doing and they were staring at Willis. And that gave me so much confidence when I saw them doing that, I go, \u201cHey, we got these guys.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Walt<\/a><\/strong>
Walt Frazier
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Q: When you started playing, how much pain was there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: The only way I could prevent there from being pain was I had to kinda drag the leg as opposed to picking it up. When I picked it up, I would have to use all the muscles. If I kinda slid it along, it didn\u2019t hurt as much.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: He was trying not to limp, but you could tell that he was in pain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: You passed him the ball for that first shot.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: I didn\u2019t think he would shoot it (laugh). Then after he made the second shot, I went, \u201cThere ain\u2019t nothing wrong with this guy!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: You were a man possessed (36 points, 19 assists) after Willis hit those two shots.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: When we left the locker room, Holzman pulled me to the side: \u201cHey Clyde, hit the open man, get everybody involved.\u201d But as the game progressed, I was the open man. But the dye was cast after Willis made his first two shots. The Lakers were psyched out, I was psyched up (laugh), so was the rest of the team, the crowd was in a frenzy, and it just rolled from there, man. We believed we could do it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Willis limping out was an inspiration to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: Oh yeah. If he didn\u2019t do what he did, I would not have had that game. I would had not have the confidence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: Walt was a helluva player.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Was that the loudest you\u2019ve heard the Garden?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: Yeah, yeah. It\u2019s been close with (John) Starks, with (Jeremy) Lin, with LJ (Larry Johnson). But I don\u2019t think it\u2019s reached that peak.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Describe that feeling of winning the NBA championship.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: Bill Russell won 11 out of 13 championships. There weren\u2019t a lot of guys winning championships in that stretch (laugh). It\u2019s a personal satisfaction that you and all the other guys have that \u2026 only so many people can have that.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: What made that team a championship team?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: You had guys who had played places and they had leadership ability, and they were willing to be the man, take big shots. I think it was the quality of the men. And I think the thing that amazes me was that the guy who basically scouted all of us, and picked us to become players on the Knicks was Holzman, with no idea that he would one day be coaching us. I\u2019m sure that there were a little idiosyncrasies about different players on our team that Red picked up scouting when we were in college that really helped him when he coached us. Some guys are fair-weather players. We didn\u2019t have any quitters.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Hit the open man was his philosophy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: He picked guys that were willing to play together. It didn\u2019t make no difference to him who was the leading scorer. All he wanted to just to do is to win the game. And give the ball to the open guy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: We personified team.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: What was the celebration like that night?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: I had so much champagne that night, man, people just buying us a drink, I couldn\u2019t spend any money for months. We just went all over town, we started out down on the East Side, we ended up at Chamberlain\u2019s place up in Harlem, they stayed open til like 4 o\u2019clock.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Willis Reed<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Q: Your emotions 50 years later.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: As a Knick player, the only team I played for, I\u2019m a Knick forever, I was disappointed that when DeBusschere was GM with Patrick (Ewing), that they had a shot at it and they didn\u2019t get it done. I thought they had enough talent to do it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a lucky enough guy that won a championship in high school, college and then pro.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: That team is still revered 50 years later.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: I\u2019ll never forget, once I was talking with Bradley, it was in Cincinnati. He told me he was going into a high school, so he thought it would be a good idea to take Oscar Robertson with him. So he said he was so embarrassed, man, that none of the kids knew who Oscar Robertson was. I\u2019m saying today, you could still go in a school here, and some kid would know who Frazier, or Bradley, DeBusschere \u2026 some kid would have heard of us. Because of the parents, the parents have perpetuated the legacy of that team, and these guys, like you said, were still revered, man, after 50 years. But in other cities it\u2019s not like that.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Fifty years later, how are you doing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willis: I\u2019m down here (Ruston, La.) with the green grass, I\u2019m looking out the window see if I see that coronavirus coming in here, but I can\u2019t see it. It\u2019s like a ghost. But I\u2019m good. I got two ponds in the back of my house, one pond in the front \u2026 I\u2019m home.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Sum up what it\u2019s like being Clyde Frazier today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: Well I never dreamt of my celebrity. I never dreamt of anything like this. I would have just been happy to play in the NBA, never reaching stardom or anything, the type of career that I had, the legacy that I have around New York, greatest city in the world. It\u2019s made me very humble.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I pray all the time because I see how fortunate I am. Having not played in 30, 40 years, to be able to have a restaurant (Clyde Frazier\u2019s Wine & Dine), kids that are 10 or 11 years old coming in looking for Clyde, wanting my autograph, wanting to take a picture with me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: How proud are you of that team and that day?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: I still get the goose bumps just talking about it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: Is it hard for you to believe that it\u2019s 50 years later?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clyde: It\u2019s starting to sound old now, 50 years (laugh). . .<\/strong><\/p>\n

I can remember it like yesterday, though.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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When the New York Knicks Were on Top<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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\"1970 <\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n
1970 NBA champs, the NY Knicks. From left to right: Dick Barnett, Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere, and Willis Reed. A legacy group of players, all except Barnett would be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The most valuable NBA franchise today hasn\u2019t won a national championship in two generations. But 50 years ago, the New York Knickerbockers lit up the biggest city in America with their first NBA title, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in a dramatic 7-game series. May,1970 is fondly remembered in Knicks lore as a magical moment when a talented crew carried their team to the top of the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The beginning of the 1970s ushered in a new era in professional basketball. Bill Russel\u2019s retirement from the Boston Celtics in 1969 signaled the end of Boston\u2019s decade-long dynasty under the basket, while 7\u20192 center Lew Alcindor, the future Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, would start his indomitable reign with the Milwaukee Bucks. In the executive suite, George Mikan, the ABA commissioner who introduced the 3-point line and the flashy red, white and blue basketball, was gone, while former Georgia governor Carl Sanders became part-owner of the newly-minted Atlanta Hawks, formerly the St. Louis Hawks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NBA at the time was comprised of just 14 teams and the New York Knicks were running the ball at Madison Square Garden, their home since the league\u2019s inception in 1946. Ned Irish, Knicks founder and President, was still overseeing the club\u2019s operations. For some time, a parade of coaches had come and gone with the team\u2019s fortunes and in 1968, Dick McGuire was replaced in mid-season after the team floundered 15-22. Red Holzman, assistant coach and team scout, took over as Head Coach. As a player, Holzman was point guard for the Rochester Royals when they defeated the Knicks at the 1951 NBA championship.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The impact was immediate. Holzman flipped the remaining games on the calendar to the Knicks\u2019 favor, salvaging what would have been a losing season into a winning one that ended with a 43-39 record and a berth at the playoffs. In the early years, New York were trophy contenders, clinching 3 consecutive conference titles in 1951, 1952 and 1953 under the helm of Joe Lopchick. But they never got past the semifinals for a shot at the crown and after Lopchick departed, the Knicks only made the post-season in 4 of the 13 years leading up to their first title. In one notorious header against the Philadelphia Warriors in 1962, the Knicks failed to stop Wilt Chamberlain who scored 100 points against them, an individual NBA record that still stands today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

By the late 1960s, the Knicks were on a march towards making NBA history. Point guard Walt Frazier was drafted out of Southern Illinois University and power forward Dave DeBusschere was traded in from the Detroit Pistons, both joining veterans Willis Reed and Dick Barnett. Future Chicago Bulls coach, Phil Jackson, and future New Jersey Senator, Bill Bradley, were brought on board as well. Unbeknownst at the time, it was the making of a legacy team that would see 7 of the 8 identified names, including Holzman and Irish, be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 1969 NBA season exploded with promises for New York as the Knicks delivered their own record-breaking, 18 game-winning streak that ended the day after Thanksgiving. Holzman\u2019s strategy emphasized more than just hard teamwork, but \u2018pressure defense\u2019. Playing physical on both ends of the court, Reed was grabbing 14.9 rebounds per game and DeBusschere was catching 10.0. Collectively, the squad led the league in holding off opponents at 105.9 points per game, cementing their reputation as the best defensive club in the NBA. The team wrapped up the regular season with a dominant 60-22 record and a ticket to the playoffs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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First up were the Baltimore Bullets at the Eastern Semifinals. Dispatching the mid-Atlantic squad 4-3, the Knicks put away Earl Monroe, Baltimore\u2019s prolific scorer who led the series with 28.0 points per game. Two years later, Monroe would find himself on the Knicks roster. At the Eastern Finals, it was the towering Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks that New York were now facing. Once again, the Knicks\u2019 tight teamwork and defensive focus overcame the powerful presence of a single individual, this time in the form of Abdul-Jabbar who landed 34.2 points per game. New York clinched the series 4-1, earning their first ever trip to the Finals.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Waiting in the wings were the Los Angeles Lakers, fresh from sweeping the Atlanta Hawkes 4-0 at the Western conference. In the first NBA Finals to be televised nationwide, Reed, DeBusschere and Frazier were now squaring off against another group of future Hall of Famers: Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor. With 19,500 exuberant fans packed into Madison Square Garden, the Knicks took Game 1, but lost Game 2 as Chamberlain made two decisive blocks in the closing minutes to win it for Los Angeles. The series started off with a tie as both teams flew out west for the next battleground.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Games 3 & 4 were grueling tests of overtime. Reed and West were fighting for points, while 7\u20191 Chamberlain, despite mobility issues stemming from knee surgery the previous year, maintained his rebound supremacy. In Game 3, West landed a clutch shot from beyond midcourt, equalizing the score at the buzzer. With no 3-point credit allotted back then except in the ABA, the game went into overtime and the Knicks ended up prevailing. Game 4 saw the Lakers respond with their own overtime victory after Baylor\u2019s free throws tied the score in regulation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The drama continued to unfold in Games 5 & 6 as both teams traded leads again. Back at the Garden, the Knicks lost Reed to injury after the first 8 minutes in Game 5. As New York fans held their breath, Holzman gambled with aggressive offense-defense hustles, forcing the Lakers into 19 turnovers that resulted in the Knicks conquering a 16-point deficit to win the day. But those tactics failed to carry into Game 6, which saw Reed out of action and Chamberlain net 45 points. Los Angeles tied the series 3-3, unleashing a 7th final and decisive match.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nobody knew if Reed would return, but the Knicks captain created raucous cheers inside the Big Apple arena when he stepped onto the court. He scored the first two baskets of the game, his only points, and kept effective coverage over Chamberlain despite hobbling on the floor. The Knicks ended up outplaying and outrunning their West Coast rivals, with Frazier leading in points, followed by Barnett and Bradley. In the end, the Knicks were the new NBA champions, having vanquished the Lakers 113-99.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reed was immortalized with both the NBA and NBA Finals MVP awards and Holzman was named Coach of the Year. For New York, the Knicks also brought the city its third professional championship in 16 months; earlier, the Jets had won Super Bowl III (1968) and the Mets followed with the World Series (1969). The brief, but glorious period for the Knicks was just beginning as the team would reach the Finals again in 1972 and clinch their second and last title in 1973, both against the Los Angeles Lakers. But no other moment in Knicks history matched the Spring of 1970 when a group of legacy players left an indelible mark for their city and fans.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Walt Frazier, “THE GREATEST NEW YORK KNICKS PLAYER OF ALL-TIME”.<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Walt Frazier<\/strong><\/caption>\n
\"Walt<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
Frazier in March 2020<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Personal information<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Born<\/strong><\/th>\nMarch 29, 1945 (age\u00a076)<\/span><\/strong>
\nAtlanta<\/a>, Georgia, U.S.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Listed height<\/strong><\/th>\n6\u00a0ft 4\u00a0in (1.93\u00a0m)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Listed weight<\/strong><\/th>\n200\u00a0lb (91\u00a0kg)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Career information<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
High school<\/strong><\/th>\nDavid T. Howard<\/a> (Atlanta, Georgia)<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
College<\/strong><\/th>\nSouthern Illinois<\/a> (1963\u20131967)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NBA draft<\/a><\/strong><\/th>\n1967<\/a> \/ Round: 1 \/ Pick: 5th overall<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Selected by the New York Knicks<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Playing career<\/strong><\/th>\n1967\u20131979<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Position<\/strong><\/th>\nPoint guard<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Number<\/strong><\/th>\n10, 11<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Career history<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1967<\/a>\u20131977<\/a><\/strong><\/th>\nNew York Knicks<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1977<\/a>\u20131979<\/a><\/strong><\/th>\nCleveland Cavaliers<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Career highlights and awards<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Career statistics<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Points<\/a><\/strong><\/th>\n15,581 (18.9 ppg)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rebounds<\/a><\/strong><\/th>\n4,830 (5.9 rpg)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Assists<\/a><\/strong><\/th>\n5,040 (6.1 apg)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stats<\/a>\u00a0\"Edit<\/a> at NBA.com<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stats<\/a>\u00a0\"Edit<\/a> at Basketball-Reference.com<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Basketball Hall of Fame as player<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
College Basketball Hall of Fame<\/a><\/strong>
\nInducted in 2006<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Walter “Clyde” Frazier Jr. (born March 29, 1945) is an American former professional basketball<\/a> player of the National Basketball Association<\/a> (NBA). As their floor general and top perimeter defender, he led the New York Knicks<\/a> to the franchise’s only two championships (1970 and 1973), and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame<\/a> in 1987. Upon his retirement from basketball, Frazier went into broadcasting<\/a>; he is currently a color commentator<\/a> for telecasts of Knicks games on the MSG Network<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

High school and college<\/span><\/h2>\n

The eldest of nine children, Frazier attended Atlanta’s David Tobias Howard High School<\/a>. 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. Although he was offered other scholarships for his football skills, Frazier accepted a basketball offer from Southern Illinois University<\/a>, saying that “there were no black quarterbacks, so I played basketball.”[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Frazier hoists the 1967 NIT championship trophy with co-captain Ralph Johnson.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Frazier became one of the premier collegiate basketball players in the country. He was named a Division II<\/a> All-American<\/a> in 1964 and 1965. As a sophomore in 1965, Frazier led SIU to the NCAA<\/a> Division II Tournament, only to lose in the finals to Jerry Sloan<\/a> and the Evansville Purple Aces<\/a> 85\u201382 in overtime. In 1966, he was academically ineligible for basketball.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SIU moved up from Division II to Division I in 1967, and Frazier and SIU won the National Invitation Tournament<\/a>, beating Marquette University<\/a> 71\u201356 in the final, in the last college basketball game played at the old Madison Square Garden<\/a> in New York. Frazier was named Most Valuable Player of the 1967 tournament.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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NEW YORK – 1972: Walt Frazier #10 of the New York Knicks drives to the basket against the Boston Celtics during the NBA game at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York in 1972.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Professional career<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

New York Knicks<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/span>1967\u20131969: Career beginnings<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Frazier was drafted fifth overall by the New York Knicks<\/a>, going on to average 9.0 points per game and be named to the NBA All-Rookie Team<\/a> during the 1967\u201368 season<\/a>. During his rookie season with the Knicks, he picked up the nickname “Clyde” because he wore a fedora<\/a> similar to that of Warren\u00a0Beatty<\/a>, who played Clyde\u00a0Barrow<\/a> in the 1967<\/a> film Bonnie and Clyde<\/a><\/i>.[2]<\/a><\/sup>[3]<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

As a sophomore, Frazier’s 17.5 points, 7.9 assists, and 6.2 rebounds per game averages made him one of the most improved players in the league.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span>1969\u201370: Breakthrough year and first NBA championship<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Frazier with the ball while guarded by Lucius Allen<\/a> in 1969<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On October 30, 1969, Frazier recorded 43 points to go along with 9 rebounds and 5 assists in a 123\u2013110 win over the Houston Rockets.\u00a0 <\/sup> Frazier was chosen as an NBA All-Star<\/a> during the 1969\u201370 season<\/a>, the first of seven selections during his 10-year stint with the Knicks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Knicks made it to the 1970 NBA Finals<\/a> thanks to the great play of both Frazier and star teammate Willis Reed<\/a>. However, in game five, Reed suffered a painful leg injury. With Reed out, chances of the Knicks winning the championship were slim. However, Reed returned to the series, playing the first two minutes of game seven and scoring its first two points before limping off. With Reed out, Frazier went on to post one of the greatest performances in NBA playoff history, tallying 36 points, seven rebounds, 19 assists, and six steals in leading New York to victory. ESPN is one of the many sports sites to call it the greatest game seven ever.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span>1970\u20131977<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Frazier in 1977<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Knicks were unable to repeat as champions in 1971, falling to the Baltimore Bullets<\/a> and their star shooting guard Earl Monroe<\/a> in the second round of the playoffs despite Frazier’s 20.4 points per game average during the second series.<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the off-season, in May 1971, Frazier scored 26 points and was named MVP of an exhibition game played between NBA and ABA<\/a> All-Stars in Houston’s Astrodome<\/a>.<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the 1970\u201371<\/a> season, the Knicks traded for Monroe, who was always difficult for Frazier to guard. Not many people thought the two players\u2019 styles would mesh, but Monroe and Frazier soon became one of the best backcourts in the league, even earning the nickname the “Rolls Royce” backcourt.<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Knicks returned to the NBA Finals in 1972<\/a>, but fell to the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, who completed a record-setting season with an NBA championship.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frazier led the Knicks to a second NBA championship in 1973<\/a>, topping the Lakers<\/a> in a five-game series. His defense on Jerry West<\/a> played a major role in defeating the star-filled team.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1976<\/a>, Frazier was selected for his seventh and final NBA All-Star Game.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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). Patrick Ewing<\/a> eventually broke most of those records, but Frazier’s assists record still stands.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cleveland Cavaliers<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Frazier was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> after the 1976\u201377 season<\/a> for the younger Jim Cleamons<\/a>. The trade left the NBA world stunned, as many people were furious that New York was willing to let go of arguably the greatest player in franchise history.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Honors<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n