Top 100 NBA Players: #82 - Walt Frazier

Walt Frazier

Teams

New York Knicks - 1967-77

Cleveland Cavaliers - 1977-79

Playoffs

Appearances - 8 (1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975)

Conference Finals - 6 (1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974)

NBA Finals - 3 (1970,1972,1973)

Championships - 2 (1970,1973)

Awards and Honors

All-NBA First Team - 4 (1969,1970,1972,1974,1975)

All-NBA Second Team - 2 (1971,1972,1973,1975)

Finals MVP - 0 (1970,1973)

Hall of Fame - 1987

*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)

All-Time Ranks

Assists Per Game - #57

Total Assists - #66

Points Per Game - #95

League Leads

Assists Per Game (#2-1970, #3-1969, #4-1974, #5-1971)

Total Assists (#2-1970, #3-1969, #4-1974)

Total Steals (#2-1975)

Steals Per Game (#2-1975)

Walt Frazier was a 3-sport star in high school, but turned down numerous football scholarship offers to attend Southern Illinois to play basketball. During his senior season, he was name the NIT MVP, and it led to him being drafted #5 overall by the Knicks in 1967.

Frazier was good enough in his first season to be named to the All-Rookie Team, but he really became a star in his second season, when he averaged 17.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game. That year he also helped lead the Knicks to their first of 6 consecutive Conference Finals, this one ending in a loss to Bill Russell and the Celtics in the big man's final season.

The next season was Frazier's first on the All-NBA First Team, and it was well-deserved. He raised his averages to 20.9 points and 8.2 assists while still collecting 6 rebounds per game from the point guard position, and he led the Knicks to their first-ever championship. Willis Reed was named the MVP after playing the first couple of minutes of Game 7 despite a major injury, but it was Frazier who was the star of that game, with an amazing stat line of 36 points, 19 assists, 7 rebounds, and 6 steals.

Frazier had his best scoring season the next year, but the Knicks were unable to repeat as champions, getting knocked off by the Bullets in the Conference Finals, but they won the East again in 1972, this time falling in the Finals to the Lakers, who had set the record that year with 69 wins, which stood for over 20 years.

They got their revenge the next year, beating the Lakers in 5 games, with Reed again being named Finals MVP, though Frazier again had a valid argument that the award should have been his. He outscored Reed in the series, had a lot more assists, and had nearly as many rebounds as the starting center, but once again he was overlooked.

Frazier had a few more good seasons with the Knicks, and he was the team's all-time leader in most statistical categories by the time he was traded in 1977, and he still owns the team assist record today. Many openly questioned the team for trading their most famous player, but in 3 seasons with Cleveland, he only managed to play in 66 games before retiring.

For a point guard, Frazier's assist totals for most of his career were just average, but he was a very good rebounder for his size, an above-average shooter and scorer, and arguably the best player on 2 championship teams, even if he doesn't have the trophies to prove it. He averaged 20-5-5 for 6 straight seasons in the prime of his career, and led deep playoff runs consistently, making him an easy choice for one of the greatest players of all time.

Top 100 NBA Players: #40 - Walt Frazier

Walt Frazier

The New York Knicks have won only two championships in their entire history, in 1970 and 1973, and Walt Frazier was the biggest reason for both victories, despite the fact that Willis Reed was voted the MVP of both series. I believe that Walt should have won both times, and I'm going to show you why.

In 1970, Willis Reed was injured near the end of New York's game 5 victory and missed the entire game 6 due to a major leg injury. The Knicks lost that game and appeared to be in danger of losing the series, but Reed limped onto the court for game 7 and gave the Knicks a huge energy boost, and when the Knicks won the game and the title, everyone credited Reed for it. The truth is, Reed scored only 4 points in the game, all in the first minute, while Walt Frazier scored 36 points, handed out 19 assists, and grabbed 7 rebounds in that deciding game. Here are their overall stats for that year's playoffs:

Frazier - 16.0 pts, 7.8 reb, 8.2 ast, .478 FG%, .764 FT%
Reed - 23.7 pts, 13.8 reb, 2.8 ast, .471 FG%, .737 FT%

Reed outscored Frazier by quite a bit during the playoffs, and outrebounded him by 6 per game, although that  margin is kind of small considering Frazier was a point guard and Reed was a center. Walt had just as big a lead in the assist category, and somehow shot the ball better than the big man throughout the playoffs. When you consider that he played the single greatest game of his career in game 7, you have to give him the MVP.

While an argument can be made both ways for MVP of the 1970 Finals, giving Reed the 1973 Finals MVP is a complete travesty. It was by far the worst playoff performance of his career, but Frazier was still his usual productive self. Here are the stats from the 1973 playoffs:

Frazier - 21.9 pts, 7.3 reb, 6.2 ast, .514 FG%, .777 FT%
Reed - 12.5 pts, 7.6 reb, 1.8 ast, .466 FG%, .857 FT%

You'd have to know absolutely nothing about the game of basketball to think that Reed was the best player on that team. In fact, I would rank him as their worst starter in the playoffs, but somehow he was awarded the Finals MVP anyway. There has never been any example in history of a player deserving the MVP less, and Frazier was cheated again.

Frazier was not only a great playoff player, he was also great during the regular season. For six straight seasons he averaged at least 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists per game, something very few players do anymore. He was also named to the All-Defensive First Team for 7 straight seasons, which was a testament to his all-around skills.

From 1969 to 1974 Frazier got the Knicks at least to the Conference Finals, with three trips to the NBA Finals and two championships during that six-year stretch. Frazier was the best player on five of those teams, and was the second-best once. It was clear that Frazier was a winner as well as an amazing player. The thing that held him back on this list is how short his career was. After just his tenth season, he basically disappeared, leaving the Knicks for Cleveland, where he would play only 66 games over 3 seasons before retiring.

Top 100 NBA Players: #38

Vince Carter

(Simmons: #83, BBR: #80)

In Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball, he uses his entire section on Vince Carter to complain about how Vince Carter would have been a better player if he had just cared more, and he has a point, which I will show you later, but when he was healthy and motivated, he showed the potential to be one of the best players of all time.

Vince Carter averaged over 20 points per game for 10 consecutive seasons, and he also averaged over 4 rebounds and 3 assists for that entire time as well. In his best season, 2000-2001, he averaged 27.6 points per game, fifth in the league, while averaging 5.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists as well. That year he also took Toronto to their only playoff series win, playing just as well in the playoffs as the regular season. That season, the only player in the league who was definitely better than Vince was Shaq, who had hit his prime.

Unfortunately, Carter was slowed by injuries over the next two seasons, and Toronto's momentum slowed, causing Vince to decide he didn't want to try anymore. He finally gave up in the beginning of the 2004-05 season, showing so little effort that it came as no surprise when he admitted after a trade to New Jersey that he hadn't been trying in Toronto. Here are his pre- and post-trade stats for that season:

Carter (TOR) - 15.9 pts, 3.3 reb, 3.1 ast, .411 FG%, .322 3P%, .694 FT%
Carter (NJN) - 27.5 pts, 5.9 reb, 4.7 ast, .462 FG%, .425 3P%, .817 FT%

The fact that he tanked that badly was so shameful that if I wasn't basing this top 100 on statistics and winning, I would have moved him down several spots. He is one of the most selfish players of all time, which is the reason he has seen so little playoff success. When he reached New Jersey, they immediately stopped competing for championships. The same thing happened in Orlando and Phoenix. Coincidence? Probably not.

There is no doubt that Vince Carter is a great player. His career scoring average is still over 22 per game, #26 all time and 8th among active players. He was a highlight reel of amazing dunks. He could do anything on the offensive end, but he could have been so much more. Even considering all of that, is it so bad to be one of the 40 best players of all time? I guess not.

It's tough to justify putting Vince ahead of Walt Frazier. Vince was not a winner, and Walt was. Vince was better at his peak, but not by much. The shortness of Frazier's career appears to be the thing that hurt him most, because Vince was able to put up 10 quality seasons, while Frazier only saw 8. Even without passing the second round of the playoffs, Carter had three great playoff seasons, which appears to have been just enough to pull him past Frazier, who would easily have been ahead of Carter if he had played one more decent season.

Top 100 NBA Players: #39

Walt Frazier

(Kalb: #31, Simmons: #32, BBR: #24)

The New York Knicks have won only two championships in their entire history, in 1970 and 1973, and Walt Frazier was the biggest reason for both victories, despite the fact that Willis Reed was voted the MVP of both series. I believe that Walt should have won both times, and I'm going to show you why.

In 1970, Willis Reed was injured near the end of New York's game 5 victory and missed the entire game 6 due to a major leg injury. The Knicks lost that game and appeared to be in danger of losing the series, but Reed limped onto the court for game 7 and gave the Knicks a huge energy boost, and when the Knicks won the game and the title, everyone credited Reed for it. The truth is, Reed scored only 4 points in the game, all in the first minute, while Walt Frazier scored 36 points, handed out 19 assists, and grabbed 7 rebounds in that deciding game. Here are their overall stats for that year's playoffs:

Frazier - 16.0 pts, 7.8 reb, 8.2 ast, .478 FG%, .764 FT%
Reed - 23.7 pts, 13.8 reb, 2.8 ast, .471 FG%, .737 FT%

Reed outscored Frazier by quite a bit during the playoffs, and outrebounded him by 6 per game, although that  margin is kind of small considering Frazier was a point guard and Reed was a center. Walt had just as big a lead in the assist category, and somehow shot the ball better than the big man throughout the playoffs. When you consider that he played the single greatest game of his career in game 7, you have to give him the MVP.

While an argument can be made both ways for MVP of the 1970 Finals, giving Reed the 1973 Finals MVP is a complete travesty. It was by far the worst playoff performance of his career, but Frazier was still his usual productive self. Here are the stats from the 1973 playoffs:

Frazier - 21.9 pts, 7.3 reb, 6.2 ast, .514 FG%, .777 FT%
Reed - 12.5 pts, 7.6 reb, 1.8 ast, .466 FG%, .857 FT%

You'd have to know absolutely nothing about the game of basketball to think that Reed was the best player on that team. In fact, I would rank him as their worst starter in the playoffs, but somehow he was awarded the Finals MVP anyway. There has never been any example in history of a player deserving the MVP less, and Frazier was cheated again.

Frazier was not only a great playoff player, he was also great during the regular season. For six straight seasons he averaged at least 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists per game, something very few players do anymore. He was also named to the All-Defensive First Team for 7 straight seasons, which was a testament to his all-around skills.

From 1969 to 1974 Frazier got the Knicks at least to the Conference Finals, with three trips to the NBA Finals and two championships during that six-year stretch. Frazier was the best player on five of those teams, and was the second-best once. It was clear that Frazier was a winner as well as an amazing player. The thing that held him back on this list is how short his career was. After just his tenth season, he basically disappeared, leaving the Knicks for Cleveland, where he would play only 66 games over 3 seasons before retiring.

The only way in which Gasol can be seen as superior to Frazier is in career longevity, since he's played at an all-star level his entire career, while Frazier did for only about 8 seasons. Frazier was great and very steady at his peak, but it ended early. Both players participated in 3 NBA Finals, winning two championships apiece, but Gasol was the #2 guy on those teams, while Frazier was the star of his. That's what sets him ahead of Pau all time.

Top 100 NBA Players: #88

Jerry Lucas

(Simmons: #64, BBR: #82)

Jerry Lucas was a statistical giant during his prime, twice recording seasons in which he averaged at least 20 points and 20 rebounds a game. Today, it's a huge headline when a player does it once. But the problem with Lucas is that he was almost always a good player on a bad team, or a bad player on a good team.

Lucas was very well-known during his career for racing down the court at the end of the quarter to grab the rebound when a player heaved it up from beyond halfcourt, which enabled him to pad his rebounding stats in a way that did not benefit his team in any way. While some of his stats were amazing, you have to wonder how much of that was focused on himself.

His two best seasons, 1965-66 and 1967-68, both came very early in his career, but his team was not very successful in either. In 1966 they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, and in 1968 they didn't even reach the playoffs. Even with the lack of team success, his stats in those two seasons were definitely notable.

1966 - 21.5 pts, 21.1 reb, 2.7 ast, .453 FG%, .787 FT%
1968 - 21.5 pts, 19.0 reb, 3.1 ast, .519 FG%, .778 FT%

No player since 1969 has averaged 21 points and 19 rebounds per game, so those numbers may have been partly a result of the style of play back then, but there's no doubt he was a talented player. He toiled away on bad teams in Cincinnati during his prime years, and finally made his way to New York late in his career, where he made the only two Finals appearances of his career.

In 1972, he was the second-best player, behind only Walt Frazier, on the Finals runner-up Knicks, when he averaged 18.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in 46.1 minutes per game, but the following season, when the Knicks broke through and won the title, he was no longer a star, averaging only 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in the playoffs.

From this chart, it seems obvious that Lucas was a better player than Manu Ginobili (and that they had eerily similar career trajectories), but the reason that the two are ranked so close together in the overall rankings comes solely from their playoff successes. Lucas was only a major playoff player once in his career, while Ginobili has made a splash in the playoffs four different times, three of which were championship seasons. For Lucas, it always seemed to be more about himself rather than his team, and that is why he's only #88 in the all-time rankings.