New York Knicks legend Clyde Frazier said Wednesday on Sirius XM NBA Radio that he’d give Kevin Durant an asterisk on a list of all-time great players because of his success with the Golden State Warriors.
“Durant, I mean, as great a player as he is, I would still hold back because, man, he joined a team that really didn’t need him. You know what I mean?” said Frazier, a television analyst for Knicks games on MSG Network. “He’s right there with LeBron [James], 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 [the Oklahoma City Thunder] and won a title with that team.”
Frazier was asked if Durant’s success with Golden State — two NBA titles and two Finals MVP awards — would impact where he’d rank him on a list of all-time great players.
“He’s going to be down the list for me because of that,” Frazier said. “There will be an asterisk by his name [chuckles].”
The Knicks plan to have enough money to sign a top free agent in the summer of 2019. In July, Durant signed a two-year contract with Golden State that contains a player option in the second season so he can become a free agent next summer if he desires.
The Knicks — and any other team in the NBA — will have interest in signing Durant next summer.
Frazier was asked on the radio show if it was realistic to think that Durant, Kyrie Irving or Jimmy Butler — all potential free agents in 2019 — would sign with the Knicks.
“Probably 50-50,” Frazier said. “You never know what these guys are thinking today. It’s not something that I would have done. I would have never joined [Jerry] West or [Bill] Russell or [Wilt] Chamberlain. I wanted to kick their butt.
“It’s something that today’s players, they have this camaraderie, they want to play together. [Carmelo Anthony] going to Houston with Chris Paul, they’ve had that going on a long time that they wanted to be teammates. It’s a possibility that these guys might get together and come to New York.”