The start of the National Basketball Association season is rapidly approaching, and a fair amount of attention will be placed on the New York Knicks as the team looks to make a deep playoff run en route to a championship. Led by stars Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, the team is trying to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Yet the sounds on MSG Networks television broadcasts could soon be changing to a degree.
Walt “Clyde” Frazier, a two-time NBA champion with the Knicks and member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, has been a fixture on the team’s broadcasts with MSG Networks since 1987. Bringing his unique style and skill of versification to the airwaves for parts of the last five decades, Frazier is rooted in sports media history and recently won the Curt Gowdy Media Award. In accepting that honor, he became the first Hall of Famer to be inducted both as a player and a broadcaster, an achievement he holds in high regard.
Frazier, 78, is reportedly looking to take fewer road trips and could be taking a step back from the broadcasts. As a result, MSG Networks may capitalize on the free agent market by bringing on Mark Jackson and/or Jeff Van Gundy to fill in. Both Jackson and Van Gundy were laid off by ESPN as part of its talent cuts following a mandate from The Walt Disney Company in an effort to slash $5.5 billion in costs. News of deliberations taking place among MSG Networks executives was first reported by Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News.
Mike Breen, the longtime Knicks play-by-play announcer, worked with both analysts over the last decade at ESPN as the voice of the NBA Finals and has familiarity and chemistry with both of them. This season, Breen will be joined by Doris Burke and Doc Rivers in the new lead booth, but expressed disappointment towards the split of the iconic trio beforehand.
Both broadcasters have experience in working with Breen, along with Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks organization. Jackson played 500 games for the Knicks and was named as the recipient of Rookie of the Year honors after the 1987-88 season. Conversely, Van Gundy served as an assistant coach for six-and-a-half seasons before he was elevated to the position of head coach and helped bring the team to the NBA Finals in 1999.
It remains unknown whether or not Jackson and Van Gundy are interested in resuming their work in sports media, let alone on regional broadcasts. National television media rights for the NBA expire after the 2024-25 season, a time when networks vying for a share of the coveted broadcast entity could look to recruit both experienced and skilled analysts.
Yes Mark Jackson and Van gundy will be a lot of fun the change is needed give them guys a shot