In 1997, the New York Knicks pulled off one of the most elaborate pranks in April Fools’ Day history. They got just about everybody in on it, from athletic trainers to opposing head coaches.
MSG Networks released breaking news ahead of the Knicks’ game against the Cleveland Cavaliers: 52-year-old Walt “Clyde” Frazier was set to leave the broadcast booth and return to the basketball court, over 17 years removed from playing professionally.
After signing a 10-day contract with the Knicks, he’d be taking third-string point guard Scott Brooks’ spot on the roster.
Professional athletes typically aren’t known for their acting prowess, but the Academy Award-level performance Frazier turned in here would say otherwise.
“Well, one day at practice, I was just messing around with the guys, and, you know, I was doing pretty good,” Frazier said in a courtside mock interview.
“Ernie [Grunfeld] said, ‘Hey Clyde, you look pretty good out there,’ and he told me that if I really wanted to come back and I worked diligently to do it, he would think about it.”
Mike Breen seemed genuinely distraught as he discussed his partner’s (fake) departure from broadcasting.
“I think the thing that hurts me the most is that over the past 5 years, we’ve developed a real great friendship and some great chemistry on the air, and he never said a word to me about it,” Breen said, brow furrowed. “I had to find out about it in a press release.”
MSG even got Mike Fratello, the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who the Knicks were facing that night, to weigh in with his fictitious feelings.
“We’re talking about a situation here where Terrell Brandon and Bobby Sura have only heard of the greatness of Clyde,” Fratello said. “Maybe the NBA will give us permission to try and bring someone in who has played against him and has a little more experience.”
But none other did a better job at selling it than Scott Brooks, the man whose job was supposedly being taken by Clyde. The present-day Lakers’ assistant coach was cordial, but visibly resentful of the team’s decision to release him and sign someone over 20 years his senior.
“The guy’s old. What can he bring to the team that I can’t do?” Brooks said. “All I gotta say is one thing – I hope I get picked up by a team, we play the Knicks in the playoffs, and I can show what they could have had.”
While the joke is timeless, the added context makes it even better: Brooks had only appeared in 36 games for the Knicks up to that point, averaging about a point and a half in six minutes. Two nights prior, he played only 47 seconds in garbage time against the Orlando Magic.
“I don’t believe it. I think it’s garbage,” Brooks said as he walked off into the sunset (locker room tunnel) with his arms up in disbelief.
He was in New York for one season and would go on to suit up in orange and blue for just six more games, but Scott Brooks’ legacy as a Knick still lives on. Even if just for one day a year.
