Published in REVERSE magazine # 30
LeBron could have been that one. This “New York Giant”. If he had chosen to take his talents to New York in 2010 and take on pro basketball’s biggest challenge – making the Knicks win – LBJ could have become the emblem of the club and the soul of a city that has been waiting for an NBA title for almost 40 years. He could have simply become the new Walt Frazier. You read correctly. Not the new Jordan, the new Magic, or the new Bird. Knicks fans don’t give a damn about these three. Not even the new Ewing (who got a big hole in the ’94 Finals), the new Bernard King (whose brilliant stint in NYC was marred by injuries) or the new Willis Reed (hero of the ’70 Finals and MVP of the two finals won by the Knicks). By winning the hearts of the country’s most discerning fans, LeBron would have become the new Clyde.
Empire State Of Mind
It takes more than talent to be successful in New York City. You need character, personality, style. You have to be able to represent the city on the ground and to embody it outside. You have to play hard, attack smart, defend hard. The Madison audience is probably, along with the Boston audience, the most knowledgeable in the whole league. For him, the beautiful basketball is not limited to isolation and alley-oops in counterattack. MSG wants cohesion and sacrifice. And it is precisely because he was at the forefront of the Frazier generation.
Were New York fans also concerned about the quality of the basketball offered before the great team which offered them its only two titles? Does the egg come first or the chicken? Hard to say. The point is, Walt and his teammates made history for the franchise and the city, and now serve as the Big Apple’s historical, cultural and sporting benchmark. Masterfully coached by Red Holzman, apostle of simple and collective basketball, the Knicks dominated the early 70s, winning the title in 70 and 73 and losing the final 72 against invincible Lakers.
The team is remarkably balanced around its strong axis, the Frazier-Reed duo. Between Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe, Jerry Lucas or even Cazzie Russell, the talent around these two is not lacking, but the trademark is always the same: no stars and no superfluous.
“Clyde is the only player I’ve seen that I would describe as an artist. »Bill Bradley
Of this unforgettable collective, the history books retain almost nothing, and the highlights that the league has always put forward are content to allude to the famous comeback of Reed during Game 7 of the final 70. Frazier was essentially scratched. heritage transmitted by David Stern to the collective imagination of fans around the world. It is only in New York that his legend survives. Under a very specific nickname. ” What do I think of Clyde? I love it “Says Ken Drews, lifelong Knicks fan and host of Freedarko.com’s excellent podcast,” The Disciples of Clyde “in honor of the former Knicks fullback.
« How could it be otherwise? He has the seriousness that comes from his success on the floor at the time, he has aged gracefully, he looks happy and has been a unique and enjoyable commentator on radio and TV for over twenty years. It is a very strong mesh of the fabric of the club, anchored in such a way that very few players in any sport, even better players than him, have ever been. »
What Drews is talking about is pure and simple communion between the athlete and his audience, an extremely strong bond that goes well beyond the strict sporting framework. So nearly 35 years after his last shots in a Knicks jersey, fans of the club still feel something unique about someone who might be just an ex-player-turned-commentator like any other.
Pete Maravich, a virtuoso born too early and gone too quickly
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