The New York Knicks ended a 53-year championship drought as a team. Contributions off of the bench, from players like Jose Alvarado and Landry Shamet, were integral to their success. They were also representative of the organizational changes to the team's process that helped lift them from Eastern Conference Finalist to 2026 NBA Champions.
Add in Karl-Anthony Towns' playmaking and defense, OG Anunoby's two-way perfection and tip-in, Josh Hart's 3-point shooting amid finger injuries, and it almost becomes easy to forget that Jalen Brunson established himself as one of the 75-best NBA players ever in this same run.
The Captain's incredible postseason, including becoming the fourth player ever to close an NBA Finals out with a 45-point game, cemented his championship-level "1A superstar" status. But it didn't land him on HoopsHype's list of the 80-best NBA players of all time. Walt "Clyde" Frazier, who came in at #59 on that list, knows that fate all too well.
Frazier is gravely underrated despite role in Knicks' first two titles
Frazier, who won two titles with the Knicks, came in behind players like Reggie Miller, Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook, Kevin McHale, Dominique Wilkins, Anthony Davis, Ray Allen, and more on that list.
Those are all great players. Most never won championships. Some did — in roles of varying sizes. None of them were one of the two best players on two different NBA Championship-winning teams.
Frazier was. His only crime was doing it in the 1970s.
As much as fans and pundits love to lament the big-market bias the Knicks constantly benefit from, it's hard to keep believing it even exists. New York proved just about everyone wrong on their way to a championship, and Brunson still couldn't get a higher NBA 2K27 rating than Luka Dončić.
A decade before a rookie Magic Johnson filled in for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at center in the 1980 NBA Finals, Frazier started the trend himself. With Willis Reed out for Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, Frazier led New York to a title with one of the greatest performances in NBA playoff history.
The guard dished and swished his way to 36 points, 19 assists, seven rebounds, and six steals in the do-or-die showdown. With all respect to Miller, Lillard, and some of the other all-time greats ranked ahead of Frazier, they've never reached those heights. In 1946, the Knicks played the Toronto Huskies in the first NBA game ever. 24 years later, Clyde led them to their first title.
He also led the Knicks to that second NBA championship in 1973, beating the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. In the deciding Game 5, Frazier played all 48 minutes. He had 18 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Perhaps most importantly, though, he held Jerry West to just 5-17 FG on New York's way to the trophy.
Ultimately, Willis Reed won Finals MVP at the end of both series. That leaves conversations with old sportswriters, grandparents, or those on the outskirts of NBA Reddit as the only times when Frazier can get his due (or right here at Daily Knicks, but you knew that).
Brunson's best hope might be his Finals MVP trophy
Brunson led the entire postseason in total and average points, taking at least 34 more shots than anyone else (Donovan Mitchell and Victor Wembanyama were next) and making it well worth the Knicks' while. He was also fourth in total assists, behind just Stephon Castle, De'Aaron Fox, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
He was a smooth operator throughout the run, especially from Game 4 against the Atlanta Hawks and on. Once the Knicks started leveraging Towns' top-of-the-key playmaking, things opened up for their Captain. And he rode that wave all the way to the NBA Finals. Then, despite some turnovers, he took the controls back over.
Brunson's poise led New York's record-setting 29-point comeback in Game 4. And the guard picked the San Antonio Spurs apart for a historic 45-point closeout game on 14-27 FG. It led perfectly into him winning the 2026 NBA Finals MVP. That recognition, which Frazier never got in either of his two championship victories, should hopefully help keep Brunson from his predecessor's frustrating fate.
While a second title wasn't enough to propel Clyde to the kind of all-time great status he deserves, yet — it's certainly not too late. His prolific broadcasting career has endeared him to several generations' worth of Knick fans.
And Brunson, turning 30 years old at the end of August, has plenty of time left to add to his résumé. He'll likely finish his career as the best Knick of all time, one way or another.
Would another title help him crack the consensus top-50? There's only one way to find out, for sure...
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