Clyde Frazier is known for being a worldly man and he certainly found an interesting way to display that Friday night.
The legendary Knicks announcer and Hall of Famer began Friday’s MSG broadcast of the Knicks’ 136-96 blowout win over the Bulls by comparing Michael Jordan’s former franchise …. to Iran.
“Mike (Breen), I was talking to my friends, man. And I was talking about eradicated, obliterated, devastated. They thought I was talking about Iran, but I was talking about the Bulls,” Frazier said.
“Their last game to the Pacers, though, they gave up 145. Against the Sixers, they gave up 157 points…”
Breen, who couldn’t help but chuckle, responded: “That’s how you start a telecast?”
Fans of the “Chapelle Show” surely can remember character Silky Johnson making similar comments about a coat and Afghanistan some 20-something years ago, but that was a comedy show.
This was an actual NBA broadcast, featuring two of the league’s most-historic teams, and it instead became a time to test some jokes involving real-world events with the United States and Iran at war.
But this is what happens in these final weeks of the NBA season when teams have fully embraced tanking and are focused on the upcoming draft.
The Knicks are still jockeying for position, while the only exciting thing about the Bulls right now is whether coach Billy Donovan will bolt — possibly for North Carolina — after the season.
Chicago (29-48) has lost six straight games while allowing an absurd 137.2 points per game, playing defense that only a matador could applaud.
They also recently landed in headlines for all the wrong reasons after cutting ties with Jaden Ivey, who went on an anti-LGBTQ and anti-catholicism rant recently.
The 81-year-old Frazier also made another cheeky remark later in the game when he called Bulls forward Josh Giddey a “sex symbol in OKC,” referencing his time with the Thunder.
Giddey was accused during his time with Oklahoma City of an improper relationship with an underage girl, but police did not pursue charges since they could not “corroborate any criminal activity.”
The NBA also closed an investigation into the matter.
The Knicks (50-28) have four games left on their schedule before the playoffs but all come against teams that are either in the Eastern Conference’s top-six spots or the Play-In Tournament.
So there is much less chance of Frazier comparing any other team to Iran.