Happy Birthday WALT CLYDE FRAZIER!! An American basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was blessed with a unique combination of court vision, quickness, and size (he stands 64) for a guard. As their floor general, he led the New York Knicks to the franchises only two NBA Championships (1970 & 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 the color commentator for telecasts of Knicks games on the MSG Network. Frazier was selected by the New York Knicks with the 5th pick in the 1967 NBA Draft and played for them during which time he picked up the nickname Clyde because he wore a similar hat to Warren Beatty who played Clyde Barrow in the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde.[citation needed] He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1968. He was an NBA All-Star seven times (and was named MVP of the 1975 NBA All-Star Game), was named to the All-NBA First Team four times, the All-NBA Second Team twice, and the All-Defensive First Team seven times. With Frazier, the Knicks captured the NBA championships in 1970 and 1973. After 10 years in New York, Frazier ended his career as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. In Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the LA Lakers, widely known for an injured Willis Reeds inspiring appearance onto the court, it was Clyde who was the unsung hero putting up an astounding 36 points and 19 assists leading the Knicks to their first NBA championship. 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 would eventually break most of those records, but Fraziers assists record still stands. Frazier was also one of the first players to make stealing the ball an art form. He would make sudden steals and surprise the offense. When asked about his defensive success, he answered that he did not believe in contact defense. Instead, he defended in such a manner that it appeared he was not playing defense. When he did so, the offensive player was often tricked into letting his guard down whereby Frazier would steal the ball with his quick hands. Frazier currently works as a commentator alongside Mike Breen for MSG Network telecasts of Knicks games. He also worked with Breen previously on the radio broadcasts before his switch to television in 1997, and also worked on Knicks games with Marv Albert. As a broadcaster, Frazier has coined many rhyming phrases, such as dishing and swishing, duping and hooping, posting and toasting, stopping and popping, winning and grinning, using and abusing, shaking and baking, hustling and bustling, bounding and astounding, etc. Walt Fraziers #10 jersey was retired by the New York Knicks on December 15, 1979. In 1987, Walt Frazier was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame along with Pete Maravich and Rick Barry. In 1996, he was elected to the NBAs 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 11:58:09 +0000
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