Knicks legend Walt Frazier puts 'asterisk' by Kevin Durant's name, takes shot at Carmelo Anthony
New York Knicks legend Walt “Clyde” Frazier played his old man card on Wednesday on Sirius XM Radio, taking the young kids of today’s NBA to task for how they handle their business.
The Hall of Famer, two-time champion and current Knicks broadcaster picked some familiar NBA targets to criticize in Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony.
Frazier: Kevin Durant gets a status downgrade
His most biting remarks were for Durant, whom he believes deserves a knock on his status for joining the Golden State Warriors in 2016, a season after they eliminated his Oklahoma City Thunder team from the playoffs.
Knicks HOFer Walt Frazier told me Kevin Durant will be down on the all-time list & have an asterisk next to his name bc he joined the Warriors. pic.twitter.com/ctKRtmtKrz
— Justin Termine (@TermineRadio) August 29, 2018
“Durant, I mean, as great a player he is, I would still hold back because, man, he joined a team that really didn’t need him,” Frazier said. “You know what I mean? He’s right there with LeBron, probably will surpass LeBron as the best player in the game soon. But for him doing that, I still don’t give him the full credit that he probably would have deserved if he stayed with OKC and won a title with that team.”
Asked about Durant’s ultimate legacy when his career is done, Frazier went to the asterisk.
“He’s going to be down the list for me because of that,” Frazier said. “There will be an asterisk by his name.”
Frazier echoes sentiment of NBA fans
Granted, he has a point. Few NBA fans outside of the Bay Area wouldn’t like to have seen Durant stick with Russell Westbrook and continue to take on the Warriors rather than become the centerpiece of what amounts to an All-Star team.
At the same time, the ’70s star telling today’s players how things should be done is never an attractive look.
Frazier sets sights on Carmelo Anthony
But Frazier wasn’t done. His next target was a fellow former Knick, Carmelo Anthony, whom he believes does not deserve to have his jersey retired because he didn’t win a ring. Frazier then went on to list a slew of Knicks who deserve to have their jerseys retired, many of whom also did not win championships.
“Probably not because he didn’t win a title,” Frazier said when asked if Anthony’s jersey should be retired. “I’m surprised they didn’t put Allan Houston up there. I’m surprised Bernard King, who is in the Hall of Fame, they haven’t put Bernard up there. So those two guys I think are deserving. Perhaps maybe John Starks. Even the Oak Man, Charles Oakley, but that probably won’t happen with all the stuff he’s done at the Garden. So he’s not held in high esteem right now, but I don’t see them putting ‘Melo in there because of that.”
Frazier’s argument doesn’t really hold up to scrutiny considering he’s throwing Starks and “Oak Man” into the jersey retirement mix.
Then again. Who can blame him for having a bad taste in his mouth from Anthony?
More from Yahoo Sports:
• U.S. Open apologizes for ‘sexist’ code violation
• Raisman slams USAG: ‘A slap in the face for survivors’
• The QBs who could become NFL’s first $200M man
• Charles Robinson: NFL player charged in brazen insider trading scheme
