Issue 3: True Character Is Revealed In Adversity; Something Walt "Clyde" Frazier Told Me
It was the spring of 2013 and summer couldn't get here fast enough. The New York Knicks were enjoying a 13-game win streak as the regular season was coming to an end. They were primed for a deep playoff run.
Forty years earlier Earl "The Pearl" Monroe and Walt "Clyde" Frazier defied a doubting fanbase, put their egos aside, and spearheaded a championship in the 1972-1973 season.
When the Knicks traded for Monroe at the start of the 1971-72 season, it was met with fervent criticism. Nobody thought the two backcourt stars could share the ball. The joke was that Monroe and Frazier would need two basketballs just to coexist on the same team.
So when Carmelo Anthony joined Amar'e Stoudemire down the stretch of the 2010-11 season, the same narrative was written and talked about. The Knicks limped into the playoffs that season and the next, but would lose in the first round both times. Mediocre results were validating fans' concerns until Stoudemire and Anthony found a way to coexist and thrive in the 2012-13 season.
Which brings me back to that warm spring day in 2013. The city was buzzing then. It had been for a while. And to know that New York is a basketball town, is to live here. However, amidst the excitement was trepidation because the Stoudemire-Anthony-lead Knicks had resulted in playoff failure the previous two seasons.
Sitting at a table in his own restaurant, Clyde Frazier's Wine and Dine, Frazier had been hosting a 40th anniversary celebration of the 1972-73 Knicks.
I waited to talk to him because I wanted his sole attention. Other members of the media piled on top of one another to get their soundbite; their quote; their picture. They eventually tired themselves out. And there he was, by himself, wearing a creamsicle color blazer with a matching tie over a black silk shirt and black slacks. A black pocket square, an orange wallet chain and orange gator shoes tied everything together. I just remember him looking like the personification of confidence.
I approached him and he was disarmingly communicative. After some nostalgic small talk, I asked of the 2012-13 Knicks, "Are they showing championship caliber signs?"
"Not yet," Frazier shot back with a chilling certainty in his voice. "Teams show those signs in adversity, not when they're winning," he continued.
What he said echoed in my mind as the Knicks went on to lose in the Eastern Conference Semifinals that year. It's also reverberated with every losing season that they've since compiled.
T-minus 20 days until the 2020-21 NBA season.
Thanks for reading!
And as always, if there's a topic you'd like to get my thoughts on, or if you have a question, please don't hesitate to ask or suggest something.
Until next time...
-Benjamin Block