Walt Frazier remembers a different kind of energy around the New York Knicks during Bill Bradley’s late arrival in 1967 (drafted in 1965, but didn’t sign right away).
*Bradley made his NBA debut on December 9th, 1967 vs. the Detroit Pistons at Madison Square Garden*
(via Garden Party):
Frazier: “He came the same year I did, but he was in the Rhodes Scholar. So, he came midseason to the Garden. When Bradley showed up, it was like in January.”
Jon Stewart: “Was it tough for you guys to accept him as he came in?”
Frazier: “No, we were looking forward to it, too: the hoopla, the pageantry.”
Jon Stewart: “It wasn’t jealousy?”
Frazier: “No, this guy could help us. So the first game, the locker room, we couldn’t even get in the locker room, there was so much media and press around. So Bradley came out in warm ups, he touched the ball, they cheered. He made a layup, they cheered. He laced his shoe, they cheered. So he was having a pretty good game, and then near the end, he made a few blunders, ‘Boo!’ So everybody in the locker room said, ‘Welcome to New York, Bradley!’ It was a Jeremy Lin moment when Bradley came to the team, it was like that. They never really sold out that much; his first game.”
