March 29 -- Walt "Clyde" Frazier

On today’s date, in 1955 – 24 years, 3 months and 3 days prior to allowing myself and my twin to escape from her uterus – my mother was born.

I thank my grandparents for that.

Unfortunately, however, in the greater interest of continued black history, my mom is not famous, so I could only offer to put her BEFORE today’s topic of conversation…

Today is the balding dude who wears the crazy suits on NBA TV and TNT for Knicks games, NBA Hall-of-Famer and wearer of #10 way back when the Knickerbockers were still a credible threat to win anything of substance…

Walter “Clyde” Frazier was a 6’4” point guard with shooting guard tendencies as a scorer. While Willis Reed is heralded for inspiration in his limping back onto the court in game 7 of the 1970 NBA finals, the hero of the day was Frazier with his 36 points and 19 assists.

His jersey hangs in the rafters of Madison Square Garden, evidence of why the current Knicks have so few available jersey numbers to choose from these days. As a broadcaster, despite an odd voice, Clyde is about as flashy as his suits, tossing up many rhyming phrases in description of the on-court action, and that has become his calling card.
I tend not to like games he calls because of his voice and tone lending the feeling that the game is being slowed down, but that is my opinion.

As a fan of the game, I would be remiss not to recognize one of the legends still among us, so happy birthday Walt “Clyde” Frazier!