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Walt Frazier

Walt Frazier in 1977
Personal information
Born	(1945-03-29) March 29, 1945 (age 73) Atlanta, Georgia
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school	David T. Howard (Atlanta, Georgia)
College	Southern Illinois (1963–1967)
NBA draft	1967 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the New York Knicks
Playing career	1967–1980
Position	Point guard
Number	10, 11
Career history
1967–1977	New York Knicks
1977–1980	Cleveland Cavaliers
Career highlights and awards
2× NBA champion (1970, 1973) 7× NBA All-Star (1970–1976) NBA All-Star Game MVP (1975) NBA-ABA All-Star Game MVP (1971) 4× All-NBA First Team (1970, 1972, 1974, 1975) 2× All-NBA Second Team (1971, 1973) 7× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1969–1975) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1968) NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team No. 10 retired by New York Knicks NIT champion (1967) NIT MVP (1967) No. 52 retired by Southern Illinois
Career statistics
Points	15,581 (18.9 ppg)
Rebounds	4,830 (5.9 rpg)
Assists	5,040 (6.1 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006

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.

High school and college[edit]

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."^[1]

Frazier became one of the premier collegiate basketball players in the country. He was named a Division II All-American in 1964 and 1965. As a sophomore in 1965, Frazier led SIU to the NCAA Division II Tournament, only to lose in the finals to Jerry Sloan and the Evansville Purple Aces. 85-82 in overtime. In 1966, he was academically ineligible for 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.

Professional career[edit]

New York Knicks[edit]

Career Beginnings[edit]

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, but then went on to become 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[edit]

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.

Career takes off[edit]

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

Following the 1971 season the Knicks traded for Monroe, someone who was always difficult for Walt Frazier to guard. Although not many people thought that he could fit in with Walt, he and Frazier soon become known as one of the best backcourts in the league, even earning the nickname “the Rolls Royce Backcourt.”

The Kicks returned to the NBA Finals in1972, but fell to the Los Angeles Lakers who completed a record setting season with an NBA championship.

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 movie Bonnie and Clyde.^[2] 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). Center Patrick Ewing eventually broke most of those records, but Frazier's assists record still stands.

Cleveland Cavaliers[edit]

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 midway through the 1979-80 NBA season, where he only played 3 games and averaged career-lows of 3.3 points and 2.7 assists before being waived.

Honors[edit]

Won 2 NBA championships (1970, 1973) with the New York Knicks.

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.^[3]

NBA career statistics[edit]

Regular season[edit]

Playoffs[edit]

Career highlights[edit]

Top assist games[edit]

40 point games[edit]

Frazier scored 40 or more points five times in the regular season.

Regular season[edit]

Playoffs[edit]

Style[edit]

Frazier is also known for his iconic fashion sense and unique style. The website Clyde So Fly^[4] catalogs and grades every suit he wears while broadcasting New York Knicks games on the MSG Network.^[5]

Frazier also has a line of Puma sneakers named after him.^[6] The promotional material references Frazier's "signature colorful style".^[7]

Personal[edit]

He lives in Harlem with his long-term girfriend, Patricia James,^[8] and they also have a home in St. Croix.^[9] He is the father of a son referred to both as Walt Jr.^[10] and, later, Walt III.^[11] Frazier is a member of the fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Walt Frazier.

• Career statistics and player information from Basketball-Reference.com
  


• NBA Encyclopedia


• Basketball Hall of Fame profile


• Georgia Sports Hall of Fame


• 
  Walt Frazier (in the New Georgia Encyclopedia)


• 
  La Monica, Mark (2007-11-30). "I want my Clyde TV". Long Island Newsday. Archived from the original on 2009-04-21.