Knicks Legend Walt Frazier Defends Michael Jordan Critique from 'The Last Dance'

A 1984 clip used in the ESPN 10-part documentary series The Last Dance, which covers Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, captures New York Knicks legend Walt "Clyde" Frazier saying Jordan couldn't "carry a team" because he wasn't seven feet tall.  

Jordan eventually led the Bulls to six titles in eight years, and Marc Berman of the New York Post caught up with Frazier soon after the comments aired.

"Early on, I wasn't that familiar with him in college," Frazier told Berman regarding the remarks. "Anyone who plays for Dean Smith, he holds them back. Vince Carter, [James] Worthy. You never know the versatility of these guys when they play for North Carolina. He keeps them in a team system. No one knew he was going to do what he did."

The Bulls took Jordan third overall out of UNC in the 1984 draft. Like many UNC stars who played under two-time national champion head coach Dean Smith, Jordan didn't have the eye-popping statistics in college that he'd soon have in the pros.

He still averaged an impressive 19.6 points on 55.1 percent shooting during his junior year (1983-84), and he swept nearly every major men's college hoops award that season minus the NCAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player honor, which went to Georgetown's Patrick Ewing.

Frazier's 1984 point of view may seem archaic when considering today's game, in which the Houston Rockets have started 6'5" P.J. Tucker at center and found success, but his line of thinking wasn't far off from the norm back then.

The league was a land of giants in the early 1980s, and every recent champion had a star big man in the middle. 

Of note, Los Angeles Lakers had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Boston Celtics had Robert Parish, and the Philadelphia 76ers had Moses Malone.

The league history back then was also dominated by big men, with George Mikan leading the Minneapolis Lakers to five NBA titles before Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain co-dominated the NBA into the late 1960s.

Frazier, of course, co-led the New York Knicks to two NBA titles in the early 1970s with Willis Reed manning the post, so he knew the importance of having a good center.

Jordan ended up becoming arguably the greatest player of all time, and he had a supporting cast around him that enabled the Bulls to get by without a star center during their championship run. And now it's commonplace to see teams excel without a dominant 5, like during the Golden State Warriors' recent dynasty.

Frazier's comments ended up erroneous, but his line of thinking was understandable given the NBA's past and present at that time.