Walt “Clyde” Frazier is aware of what it seems like.
He’s performed on championship Knicks groups.
He’s adopted ones which have come shut.
The legendary Knicks participant and announcer believes the present ensemble, fortified by the addition of Mikal Bridges, has what it takes to interrupt by way of sooner or later after back-to-back journeys to the Japanese Convention semifinals.
“I see the vibes,” Frazier mentioned Friday. “I see a whole lot of similarities with [our] championship groups, beginning with the coach. [Tom Thibodeau] is rather a lot like Purple Holzman. He holds the blokes accountable, they usually’re defensive oriented, and the gamers truly like one another.
“I believe that is going to be our yr. Clearly, well being goes to play a giant issue into it. But when the Knicks can keep wholesome, I believe we will get again to our former grandeur.”
Frazier, 79, was on the Jacob Javits Heart for the inaugural Fanatics Fest NYC, on a Knicks panel entitled “Bing Bong” alongside gamers Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, actor Ben Stiller and award-winning director Spike Lee.
The hour-long occasion contained in the theater on the Javits Heart was filled with Knicks followers wanting to bathe Brunson and Hart with applause and reward.
They erupted into “Ja-Len, Brun-Son” chants earlier than he took the stage and broke into “M-V-P” chants when the group’s latest captain emerged.
Frazier supplied Brunson an enormous praise in the course of the panel, through which the discuss of the Knicks profitable their first title since 1973 was one of many details.
“We all know, on this city, the expectations are all the time overwhelming, so to rise to the event his first two years and settle for the problem, catapulting the group, he’s undoubtedly received an opportunity to be one of many best Knicks ever, if not the best Knick ever,” Frazier mentioned. “I did a video — I wasn’t capable of be on the induction when he was inducted because the captain — I informed him, he jogs my memory a whole lot of Willis Reed. They’re each lefties, they each have tenacious work ethic, they’re all the time sharing and caring, and team-first idea. They’re all the time pondering of the group, not themselves.”
A significant factor within the heightened expectations with the Knicks is a powerful offseason, highlighted by the return of OG Anunoby and the addition of Bridges by means of a commerce with the Nets.
Bridges, after all, performed with Brunson, Hart and Donte DiVincenzo at Villanova and is one other high quality two-way participant on a roster filled with them.
“What he brings is he suits the puzzle completely,” Brunson mentioned. “He can do no matter you ask him to do after which extra. To say who he’s as an individual, the person received off the airplane from London final evening, after which he was within the gymnasium right now shiny and early.”
The 67-year-old Lee introduced the gang to its ft when he was requested why the Knicks matter.
He talked about his life as a Knicks fan, rising up in the course of the group’s heyday, once they received two titles within the span of 4 seasons.
“I believe the time is now and f–okay Boston,” he mentioned, referring to the champion Celtics.
Later, Lee introduced out one of many MSG nets, encased in glass, from Sport 7 of the 1970 finals.
He requested Frazier to recite his stats from that memorable Sport 7 — 36 factors, 19 assists, seven rebounds and 5 steals — when the Knicks ousted Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and the Lakers.
“1972-73? C’mon now,” Lee mentioned, as the gang roared in approval. “Let’s go, let’s go get one other ring. Orange and blue skies, let’s go.”
