Walt Frazier Biography

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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. He lives in Harlem with his long-term partner, 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.

High school and college

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."

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

New York Knicks

Career Beginnings

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 of 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 got 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 seven and scores 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

Despite the championship win in 1970, the Knicks wanted to make some major changes to their team after the glorious season they had the year before. They traded for star shooting guard Earl Monroe, someone who always gave Walt Frazier trouble when defending him. 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."?

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 movie Bonnie 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). Center Patrick 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 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

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.

NBA career statistics

"?	Denotes season in which Frazier won an NBA championship

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|New York | 74 || || 21.5 || .451 || || .655 || 4.2 || 4.1 || || || 9.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|New York | 80 || || 36.9 || .505 || || .746 || 6.2 || 7.9 || || || 17.5 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|"? | style="text-align:left;"|New York | 77 || || 39.5 || .518 || || .748 || 6.0 || 8.2 || || || 20.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|New York | 80 || || 43.2 || .494 || || .779 || 6.8 || 6.7 || || || 21.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|New York | 77 || || 40.6 || .512 || || .808 || 6.7 || 5.8 || || || 23.2 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|"? | style="text-align:left;"|New York | 78 || || 40.8 || .490 || || .817 || 7.3 || 5.9 || || || 21.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|New York | 80 || || 41.7 || .472 || || .838 || 6.7 || 6.9 || 2.0 || 0.2 || 20.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|New York | 78 || || 41.1 || .483 || || .828 || 6.0 || 6.1 || 2.4 || 0.2 || 21.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|New York | 59 || || 41.1 || .485 || || .823 || 6.8 || 5.9 || 1.8 || 0.2 || 19.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|New York | 76 || || 35.4 || .489 || || .771 || 3.9 || 5.3 || 1.7 || 0.1 || 17.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland | 51 || || 32.6 || .471 || || .850 || 4.1 || 4.1 || 1.5 || 0.3 || 16.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland | 12 || || 23.3 || .443 || || .778 || 1.7 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 0.2 || 10.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland | 3 || || 9.0 || .364 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.0 || 2.7 || 0.7 || 0.3 || 3.3 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 825 || ? || 37.5 || .490 || .000 || .786 || 5.9 || 6.1 || 1.9 || 0.2 || 18.9 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| All-Star | 7 || 7 || 26.1 || .449 || || .857 || 3.9 || 3.7 || 1.3 || 0.0 || 12.6

Playoffs

|- |style="text-align:left;"|1968 |style="text-align:left;"?|New York |4|| ||29.8||.364|| ||.778||5.5||6.3|| || ||9.5 |- |style="text-align:left;"|1969 |style="text-align:left;"?|New York |10|| ||41.5||.503|| ||.596||7.4||9.1|| || ||21.2 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|1970"? |style="text-align:left;"?|New York |19|| ||43.9||.478|| ||.764||7.8||8.2|| || ||16.0 |- |style="text-align:left;"|1971 |style="text-align:left;"?|New York |12|| ||41.8||.529|| ||.733||5.8||4.5|| || ||22.6 |- |style="text-align:left;"|1972 |style="text-align:left;"?|New York |16|| ||44.0||.536|| ||.736||7.0||6.1|| || ||24.3 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|1973"? |style="text-align:left;"?|New York |17|| ||45.0||.514|| ||.777||7.3||6.2|| || ||21.9 |- |style="text-align:left;"|1974 |style="text-align:left;"?|New York |12|| ||40.9||.502|| ||.898||7.9||4.0||1.8||0.3||22.5 |- |style="text-align:left;"|1975 |style="text-align:left;"?|New York |3|| ||41.3||.630|| ||.813||6.7||7.0||3.7||0.0||23.7 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 93 || ? || 42.5 || .511 || || .751 || 7.2 || 6.4 || 2.1 || 0.3 || 20.7

Career highlights

Top assist games

Occurred in playoff competition

Assists	Opponent	Home/Away	Date	Minutes played	Points	Rebounds
19	Los Angeles Lakers	Home		44	36	7
17	Baltimore Bullets	Away		44	26	7
16	Philadelphia 76ers	Away			22
16	Los Angeles Lakers	Home			30
16	Philadelphia 76ers	Away			18
16	San Francisco Warriors	Home			18
16	Phoenix Suns	Away		42	12	1

40 point games

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		46	20	28	4	4	7	5
43	San Diego Rockets	Home			14	22	15	19
43	Phoenix Suns	Away		48	17	24	9	10	3	5
41	Cincinnati Royals	Home		45	17	24	7	8	9	3
41	Indiana Pacers	Away		45	12	20	17	20	7	11

Regular season

Stat	High	Opponent	Date
Points	44	at Los Angeles Lakers
Points, half	29	vs. Cincinnati Royals
Field goal percentage	18"?22 (.818)	at Buffalo Braves
Field goals made	20	at Los Angeles Lakers
Field goal attempts	28	at Los Angeles Lakers
Free throws made	17	at Indiana Pacers
Free throw attempts	20	vs. Seattle SuperSonics
Free throw attempts	20	at Indiana Pacers
Rebounds	16
Steals	6	at Indiana Pacers
Blocked shots

Playoffs

Stat	High	Opponent	Date
Points	38	vs. Capital Bullets
Points	38	at Boston Celtics
Field goal percentage
Field goals made	16	vs. Capital Bullets
Field goal attempts	31
Free throws made, none missed	12"?12	vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Free throws made	12	vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Free throw attempts	15	at Boston Celtics
Rebounds	16	vs. Baltimore Bullets
Assists	19	vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Steals
Blocked shots

Style

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".