New York Knicks legend Walt Frazier had some stiff opinions regarding this modern era of player empowerment, one that has seen stars like Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard force their way out of their contracts to find another destination. “Clyde” was adamant that stars requesting trades was not a good look for the league, concurrent with what NBA commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month and what Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr talked about earlier this week in a visit with The Warriors Insider podcast.
“I must say I'm not an advocate of what's going on (with star players like Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard forcing trades),” said Frazier, according to SNY's Ian Begley. “I don't think it's good for the league where guys can dictate what teams they go to, playing together. Because you negate the draft. The draft is the key (to) parity.
“So you have this going on, (and) a lot of teams are not even going to be able to compete. You're going to have four, five super teams. I think the commissioner has alluded to that fact, (Warriors coach) Steve Kerr has alluded to it as well. I agree with those guys. You've got to do something to try to keep the league more equal.”
Funny enough, none of these moves have resulted in a lack of parity, but rather a more equal playing field with teams not using the pairing of two stars as their model for roster construction.
Davis teamed up with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers while Leonard managed to benefit from a Paul George trade while joining the LA Clippers — now bound for a top-notch battle in the West. Frazier's Knicks however, were the ones that struck out in free agency and consequently missed out on the opportunity to bring a star or two to The Big Apple.
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