The Greatest Knick Duo Ever

No surprise who tops the list.

Good morning! I hope you’ve been enjoying Duos Week here at KFS. There will be no newsletter tomorrow, but check back Friday for my Honorable Mentions, plus a special piece from Ray Marcano.

1. Willis Reed & Walt Frazier, 1967-1974

• Combined Win Shares as teammates: 143.1

• Best Season: 1969-70 - NBA champs, both made 1st Team All-NBA (only time in franchise history); finished 1st (Reed) and 4th (Frazier) in MVP voting

There is obviously no debate about the best duo in franchise history. The fact that two of the three contenders for “greatest Knick ever” played together for seven years pretty much settles that. Two championships doesn’t hurt either.

No, I’m taking the conclusion to this week’s “Knicks Duos” series a step further: Do Clyde and the Captain have an argument for the the greatest single season - 1969-70, the first championship year - by a pair of teammates in all of NBA history?

That might seem like a bridge too far at first. After all, we’ve seen pairings comprised of some of the 10 or 15 greatest players ever end seasons holding the Larry O’Brien trophy. Steph & KD, Kobe & Shaq, Kareem & Magic and Kareem & Oscar are four such duos that come to mind, and all had at least one title title run that featured a dominant regular season and/or a dominant postseason.

They all have an argument…but so do Reed and Frazier, and it starts with just how important their contributions were to the dominance of that team.