New Yorkers are chanting “Go Knicks,” as the home team looks to win the NBA Championships and if they do, we know they’ll do it in style. Knicks players have always had a front row seat to fashion, especially Walt “Clyde” Frazier. The beloved legend, two-time Knick champion and NBA Hall of Famer — and the first athlete to sign an official signature sneaker deal, with Puma in 1973 — is one of the original masters of “tunnel walk” style.

It was 1968, when WWD’s then-sister publication Daily News Record first captured the “Clyde” image, a year after he signed on with the now 80-year-old basketball franchise. DNR’s editors kept their lens on his on- and off-court style as his star continued to rise. Frazier’s flair for fashion, he would tell DNR in 1975 upon receiving “best dressed athlete” from Sport magazine, “developed when I joined the New York Knicks.” Decades later, Frazier remains the original icon of sports player style. His unique blend of bespoke tailoring in unusual colors and patterns remains inspirational to a new generation of fashion savvy athletes.