Clyde Frazier Says Kevin Durant Needs Title with Knicks to Be the GOAT

New York Knicks legend Walt "Clyde" Frazier has changed his tune on Kevin Durant who believes could cement his place as the best player in the NBA by winning a title with the Knicks.

"I think that's what he needs. Especially if the Warriors win this year, I think he'd be looking for a different challenge," Frazier said, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. "I don't know a better place than New York where he can do it. Where else could he go to get what he's looking for, to be the best in the game? If he could bring a title to New York, that's going to catapult him with Jordan and LeBron, I would think."

Frazier raised some eyebrows in August when he suggested that Kevin Durant's accomplishments with the Golden State Warriors deserved an "asterisk" and that he didn't give Durant the "full credit that he probably would've deserved if he stayed in OKC and won a title" since he "joined a [Golden State] team that really didn't need him," per Bondy.

Frazier's comments didn't go unnoticed by Durant's camp. His business partner, Rich Kleiman, responded:

So did Durant.

"Hell yeah, (I heard about it), of course. You hear about all that stuff," Durant said, per Bondy. "But I don't even know what that means. I know I'm nice when I play, I'm nice. You know that, too."

But on Tuesday Frazier clarified those remarks, saying he "meant no disrespect" and reminded people that his comments also included him saying that Durant is "one of the best in the world, right up there with LeBron, and that he's probably going to be the best in the game," according to Bondy.

It's also possible there was behind-the-scenes pressure for Frazier to walk back his comments. The Hall of Fame guard broadcasts Knicks games as an analyst for the MSG Network and was invited to speak to the team's guards this season by head coach David Fizdale.

It's unlikely the Knicks were thrilled with Frazier publicly criticizing a potential free-agent target. The Los Angeles Clippers handled their own displeasure with analyst Bruce Bowen criticizing Kawhi Leonard over the summer by pressuring Fox Sports West to not extend his contract and let him go, and the network obliged.

Frazier is far more an institution for the Knicks than Bowen was with the Clippers, so he'd likely be given more leeway in such situations. But it's hard to imagine the Knicks' brass was pleased with Frazier, even if the team legend was surprised by the backlash.

"I was flabbergasted," he said of the controversy his remarks sparked. "I was like, 'what?' So people were calling me. My friends were calling me. And I didn't know the magnitude. All these different programs were talking about it. I was like, 'Wow.'"

A player like Durant could completely change the fortune of a Knicks team that hasn't reached the postseason since the 2012-13 campaign. His signing could help the team sign another free agent to join him and Kristaps Porzingis, instantly making the Knicks relevant once more. Durant could make New York the basketball mecca once more.

And Frazier, correct or not, believes Durant needs the Knicks as much as they need him.