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Walter Frazier (born March 29, 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former basketball player in the NBA. Frazier is one of the few players to have played won a national championship in college basketball as well as a world championship in professional basketball.
After having a great career at David Howard High School in Atlanta, Frazier's choices for furthering his career were limited. Due to policies of racial segregation, major colleges in Georgia, such as Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia as well as all other major universities in the south, did not admit African-Americans. Frazier chose to attend Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois.
Frazier wasted no time in becoming one of the premier collegiate basketball players in the country. He was named a Division II All-America in 1964 and 1965. In 1965, Frazier led SIU to the NCAA Division II Tournament only to lose in finals to University of Evansville, 85-82 in overtime. In 1966, he was academically ineligible for basketball.
In 1967, with Frazier at point guard, SIU won the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), beating Marquette University 71-56. (Note: In 1967, the NIT was the premier major college tournament in the United States. The NCAA Tournament field was regarded by many as inferior.) Frazier was named MVP of the 1967 tournament.
Frazier was drafted by the New York Knicks, where he picked up his knickname of "Clyde". He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1968. He was an NBA All-Star seven times, and was named All-Star Game MVP in 1975. With Frazier, the New York Knicks captured the NBA championship in 1970 and 1973.
Frazier holds team records for most games (759), minutes played (28,995), field goals attempted (11,669), field goals made (5,736), free throws attempted (4,017), free throws made (3,145), assists (4,791) and points (14,617).
In 1987, Walt Frazier was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1996, he was elected to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Frazier also was one of the "new breed" of athletes that emerged in the 1960s, such as Joe Namath and Dick Allen.
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