Ranking the Most Fashionable New York Knicks of All Time

The New York Knicks play their games in Madison Square Garden—the Mecca of basketball. Meanwhile, New York City can not only be considered the media capital of the world, but will soon house a worldwide transportation hub and is home to the world's largest stock exchange.

Something else the Big Apple is renowned for? Fashion. Viewed as one of the planet's four major fashion capitals, the city's ballers often dabble in the universe that is style and fashion. After all, the Knicks are named after a pair of pants. 

The team has employed several players willing to devote downtime to their style, and the current roster may be the most representative of that.

Ahead, we rank Knicks' fashion followers of past and present, based on just how well they balanced balling out in the gym and on Fifth Ave.

Honorable Mentions

Nate Robinson

Nate Robinson may not have a complete-enough fashion package to stack up against Knickerbocker greats, but he certainly has his shoe game figured out. After all, this is the man that wore Nike Air Yeezy 2s in an actual NBA game.

It you're not familiar, check out the video above. Foams, J's, Air Forces—you name it, it's in Nate's sneaker closet.

Kicks-wise, Robinson flourished last season as a Chicago Bull. Donning the classic red and white, Nate Rob was able to rock the classic MJ colorway, night in and night out. According to NiceKicks.com, the combo guard wore 22 different pairs of Jordan retros in 2012-13, including three in one game. 

Robinson has since moved on to the Denver Nuggets, where the Laney 5s are practically screaming his name. Nate's wardrobe may not turn as many heads as top-knotch Knick fashionistas, but he could be the biggest "sneaker head" in franchise history.

Kenny Walker

For a former draft selection taken fifth overall, Kenny Walker underachieved as a Knick. But right now, that's not the point. On the court, "Sky" Walker managed to bring home a slam dunk crown. Off it, he rocked a hairstyle that reached altitudes only a man named Sky could pull off.

Walker came out victorious in the 1989 Slam Dunk Contest, and even rose the trophy with some flare around his neck that Trinidad James would look back on with a smile. 

Sky Walker may not have ever been able to put it all together as a Knicks basketball player, but as a fashion icon of the late 1980s, we think he did just fine.

5. Anthony Mason

There was nothing pretty about Anthony Mason's game as a Knick.

Like his Knicks teams of the era, Mase was as gritty and hard-nosed as they come, so associating his likeness with a sense of "fashion", per say, seems like a poor fit. That is, until you think back on the cuts he pulled off. 

"Wait a sec. Wasn't Anthony Mason bald?"

Not quite. 

Sporadically—e.g. whenever sufficient growth allowed it—the Knicks' big man would direct his apparently extremely talented barber to etch whatever was on No. 14's mind, onto his scalp. For a while, Mason was a human Etch A Sketch. There were team logos, nicknames, biblical references and other scribbles. 

He was enough of a street influence during his time to make an appearance in this Diamond D video for "Best Kept Secret," circa 1992.

Mason's designs were a key part to the trends of the time and one of the first in a long line of risky NBA hair choices. 

4. Tyson Chandler

After arriving in New York as a longtime NBA vet, Tyson Chandler's fashion sense became utterly apparent. Perhaps cameras in New Orleans, Charlotte and Dallas didn't shine as bright on the 7'1" center.

"Even before I moved to N.Y.C., I realized that there are no off days," he told GQ Magazine last spring. "Especially in the camera-phone era. I started to look at fashion the same way I look at my games—there's always going to be someone watching you for the first time."

In recent years, New York's defensive anchor has prided himself on slim-fitting suits and a ferocious beard. It's the type of look that you'd expect from... well, anyone but a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, All-Star big man and the team's best rebounder and defender. 

Chandler often dabbles in the deep end of New York fashion as well, attempting to pull off looks that even stylistically gifted teammates could frown upon, such as the drop-crotch pants, whatever this was.

Oftentimes he's found himself on the wrong end of the occasional jokes—both publicly and presumably in the locker room—but that's how it goes when you take risks, which is an essential part of pulling off the most unique looks.

3. Iman Shumpert

As we enter the realm of the new school, Iman Shumpert is a Knick who took all your 2013 trends, battered and bruised them, and then laced up the next day to hoop at the Garden.

Of course, as the NBA world is well aware of, it all started with the hair.

Last offseason, Shump popped up here and there on Instagram with hair that was significantly taller and flatter than we'd remembered it. A few short months later, the then-injured baller was suddenly his own brand of character. 

On the hardwood, Shump has the kicks to help put Adidas back on the map. Just ask Jeremy Scott. Off the court, he has the jewelry, the prints and more importantly, the self-awareness. He can dress up or dress down and has no problem with standing out. 

But when it comes to footwear, true style-seekers need only hear two words to know the Knicks guard isn't playing games: red bottoms.

These days, Shumpert's going with a slightly altered look on top. The hair's a bit more rounded, so don't call it a flat top. The "Bravo" cut is what 21 Shump St. is going with at the moment, an ode to a childhood favorite, complete with blond flair up front.

Shumpert recently spent time in the summer league to round out his offensive repertoire. Let's just say that if the 23-year-old's game is ever as well-rounded as his wardrobe, James Dolan is going to have one hell of a trade asset on his hands. 

2. Amar'e Stoudemire

Amar'e Stoudemire's basketball tale over the last two years has been an overwhelmingly depressing one.

Surprisingly, and thankfully, it doesn't seem as though the struggle of "Stat" to stay on the court has hampered his up-beat personality off the hardwood, nor affected the way in which the big man presents himself.

Amar'e's website features an entire "about" section regarding his fashion prowess, where he outlines keys to being as fashionable as possible—transformation of mind, self discipline, and appreciation and respect. Amar'e Stoudemire—fashion sensei.

Through the years, Stoudemire has never failed to look sharp in public, either pre-or-post-New York. (Well, there was that time with the braids, but whatever.) While maintaining a gentlemanly, grown-man approach, Stat is capable of turning up a few notches (yeah, that's a grill) to itch the occasional streetwear scratch.

And hey, Amar'e single-handedly came up with the postgame glasses trend. 

Stoudemire possesses the type of style that's always classy yet on the cutting edge, which is tough to top. Of course, holding down the top spot in Knicks' history is nearly impossible thanks to one man.

1. Walt "Clyde" Frazier

This was never really in question, was it?

Every Knick who will don the jersey from 1977 until the end of time will be in a contest for second place, and they have Walt "Clyde" Frazier to blame. 

Clyde invented cool. It's really as simple as that.

Everything Frazier did had a swagger to it, whether it was dishing an assist, posing beside an automobile, or eating a bowl of cereal. The "Clyde" moniker, which originated from the movie Bonnie and Clyde, has stuck with the former Knicks guard since his early playing years, thanks to the flat-brimmed hats that are now attached to both characters.

One thing that never goes out of style? Winning. With Frazier running the point, New York won their only two world championships in 1970 and 1973. Frazier's greatest game as a Knick came in Game 7 of the '70 Finals, when he scored 36 points, dished out 18 assists and fell three boards shy of a triple-double.

Now a broadcaster, Clyde still can't help but be the coolest cat in the arena. With Frazier's vocabulary as expansive as his his closet (probably), Knicks viewers on MSG have had the pleasure of listening to his sonically delightful rhymes as the team's color commentator. 

And the suits. My God, the suits.

Clyde's wardrobe has been firing on all cylinders through five decades now and shame on you if you think he's letting up anytime soon.

Taking aim at wannabe TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager, Clyde said, "He doesn't have the body to pull it off, but he tries." 

There is no other argument to be made. Clyde Frazier is the most fashionable—and overall coolest—man in the history of the Knicks' franchise, and that's the way things will stay. Because cool is never going out of style.

Follow me on Twitter at @JSDorn6.