Sports Media Report
MSG Networks analyst and Knicks legend Walt “Clyde” Frazier was honored today, Tuesday, July 19th, during a special ceremony at his historic alma mater in Atlanta. The David T. Howard Middle School administrative staff and the David T. Howard National Alumni Association, Inc., hosted a celebration for the official dedication of the Walt “Clyde” Frazier Gym Court/Gymnasium on the middle school’s campus.
The current middle school was formerly David T. Howard High School, where Frazier graduated in 1963. The high school permanently closed its doors in 1976. However, in recent years, school alumni began to advocate for the preservation and revitalization of the neighborhood landmark.
After an eventual renovation, the school finally reopened as David T. Howard Middle School in 2020. The building is now listed on the National Historic Registry due to its cultural significance to the history of the Old Fourth Ward community and the City of Atlanta.
Notable other graduates of the former David T. Howard High School include civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., Atlanta’s first black mayor Maynard H. Jackson, business executive and civil rights activist Vernon E. Jordan Jr., noted entrepreneur Herman J. Russell, student movement civil rights activist Lonnie C. King and former Atlanta police chief and Clayton County’s first Black commission chair Eldrin Bell.
Later this year, Frazier will also be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as the recipient of the 2022 Curt Gowdy Award, an annual award given to outstanding achievements in basketball writing and broadcasting. Now a two-time Hall of Famer after first being enshrined as a player in 1987, Frazier will be inducted again in September.
A broadcasting icon, Frazier first teamed up with Mike Breen, Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer and 2020 Curt Gowdy Award recipient, on MSG Networks’ game telecasts during the 1998-99 season. The upcoming Knicks season will mark Frazier’s 25th season as a Knicks analyst with MSG Networks.
