The New York Knicks have a storied franchise that dates back to the early days of the NBA. In the late 1960s, the league looked different; New York's best player was Walt "Clyde" Frazier. But even then, the stars tended to have a bit of a rivalry with one another, and Frazier had his own.
Frazier played for New York for 10 seasons and was the face of the franchise for quite some time. During his stay with the organization, he honed himself to become a star, as he was selected for seven All-Star games during that span.
In a YouTube video uploaded on Thursday, he sat down with the current stars of his former team. Frazier appeared as a guest on the "Roommates Show," where Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart talked to him about what it was like to play in the 1960s. The legend shared which player he had a rivalry with during his playing days.
"Earl the Pearl was my nemesis," Frazier said. "This guy was like a globetrotter. He had all this fancy style, you didn't want him to score on you.
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"When Earl got the ball, the whole arena is standing up yelling, 'Earl! Earl!' and they want him to shoot 30-35 times a game. I know I'm up against that, I can't let my ego get involved. I just got to tell myself 'Hey man, when the game's on the line, I'm gonna stop this guy. I'm gonna stop him.'"
Frazier begins talking about Earl "The Pearl" Monroe at 18:50:
Ironically, Frazier would team up with Monroe during the 1971-72 season in New York. The Baltimore Bullets didn't honor the star's request to be traded to the LA Lakers, Chicago Bulls or Philadelphia 76ers.
But the duo of Frazier and Monroe was effective, as they won the NBA championship in 1973.
Knicks legend talks about his partnership with Mike Breen
After his playing days with the Knicks and the league, Walt Frazier found himself on a path toward broadcasting. Although he started doing it on the radio, he was still allowed to become partners with play-by-play commentator Mike Breen. The basketball legend talked about how he was given the reins by Breen over the microphone, which started their unique chemistry.
"Yeah, almost from day one, the first time we ever worked," Frazier said on having chemistry with Breen. "Unlike the other guy I worked with on radio, Mike told me, 'Hey Clyde, the people want to hear what you have to say, so just say what you want to say, man.' So he gave me the freedom to talk more than the average color guy."
To this day, the two have remained partners and are icons in their craft. Even now that Frazier's not wearing any jersey, he continues to entertain Knicks fans.
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