WALT 'CLYDE' FRAZIER x PUMA FEATURE

For our readers that don’t know about the legend, can you tell us why Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier is a basketball icon?
NG: During the late 1960s and early ‘70s Frazier was the heart and soul of a beautifully calibrated New York Knicks team that won two NBA titles (the only two in the franchise’s history) and that is one of the most beloved collections of athletes in the city’s history. Not only were Frazier and his teammates winners but their unselfish style of ball was seen as a metaphor for how people were supoosed to get along. It is no stretch to say that the Knicks of the Frazier-era came to mirror the city’s own most favorable image of itself.

The PUMA book quotes Bill Bradley (Knicks teammate) describing Clyde as an ‘artist’ on the court. Was he as interested in the artistry of style as he was in winning?
NG: Frazier was able to do something very few athletes accomplish: he was able to win and mesh with teammates, while maintaining a very singular style of play. He was one of the most graceful men ever to lace up sneakers, yet his smoothness was deceptive. He was tough and strong-willed enough to hit the big shot and never let them see you sweat.

With the Fedora and the Rolls Royce and acres of mink, Clyde was a natty cat, but in modern parlance he might now simplistically be viewed as some sort of ‘pimp’ prototype.
NG: Frazier was not a pimp. He was a playa! His attitude was not that of a man who got money from money. He was a man who dressed to show he could give and receive pleasure. His vibe wasn’t monetary - it was about style and cool. From his big hats and mutton chop sideburns to the mirror over his bed, the man was about the casual flamboyance of the playboy lifestyle.