Getty Images for FanDuel
Gauchos Gym in the South Bronx was the historical setting for an evening filled with plenty of history lessons on NBA opening night.
There’s just something about a New York point guard. There’s a toughness and a flair that only those from the Big Apple seem to possess.
You’re reminded of it when you walk into Gauchos Gym in the South Bronx. You look up at the wall at all the names of the players who suited up for the renowned AAU program. Guys like Rod Strickland, Stephon Marbury and Kemba Walker.
“I had chills walking up when I came here today,” Rafer Alston, a Queens native, said to SB Nation.
Alston, who spent 11 years in the NBA, helped bring streetball to the mainstream with the AND1 Mixtape Tour. He famously went under the moniker “Skip 2 My Lou.”
Though he was part of the rival Riverside Church AAU squad — which was no slouch in its own right — he has fond memories playing at Gauchos Gym.
“I played a lot of ball in here, man,” he said. “It was pandemonium. So many people were packed in here.”
Alston returned to the historic hardwood as part of a NBA opening night event with FanDuel TV’s Run It Back show. The event, hosted by the show’s crew of veteran sports media personality Michelle Beadle and former NBA players Lou Williams and Chandler Parsons, featured a panel of impressive guests. Alston, Nike historian Scott Reames (if you liked the movie Air, just know the whole thing was a lie), and legendary Knick Walt “Clyde” Frazier spoke.
It should come as little surprise that Frazier stole the show.
Though he traded in his usually scintillating suits for sweats — along with shiny gold Pumas and his customary “Clyde” hat — Frazier’s mere presence lit up the room. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Frazier did something incredibly difficult during his playing days: he won over the New York fan base.
But he admits it was a struggle at first.
“I was intimidated when I first started,” he said to SB Nation, “and that’s why I wasn’t playing well until I gained my confidence — and then I started to like the pressure.”
It’s hard to imagine Frazier ever lacking confidence or simply not being “cool.” Though he wasn’t born in New York, his game certainly took on the personality of the city.
“That’s where I got my ‘cool’ reputation,” he said. “When the game is on the line I’m always looking the same. And that’s how the whole iconic thing with ‘Clyde’ developed and continues until this day. But early on, I was like everybody else. I was intimidated. The New York pressure can be very overwhelming.”
When Frazier spoke to the crowd, everyone in attendance listened. He was his typical self — charming and funny, but serious when it came to talking ball. He shared his love for New York. The funniest moment might’ve been when he talked about the Knicks trading him to the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 1977. “I equated that to being traded to Siberia,” he quipped (sorry, Cleveland).
He might not have been a true New York-born point guard, but he’s definitely become an adopted one.
“It’s a blessing,” he said when asked about being invited to the historical building. “I haven’t played in 40-something years and people still hold me in high esteem and respect me. It keeps me humble. It’s not something I take for granted.”
Williams, who played 17 NBA seasons, wasn’t even born when Frazier retired in 1980. Still, the three-time Sixth Man of the Year was in awe of the Hall of Famer. While he was there to promote his show, he soaked up the history and the opportunity.
“It was amazing,” Williams said to SB Nation about the event. “This gentleman to my left right here — the icon, Walt Frazier. I got an opportunity to have a real conversation with him. … Historical night. Honored to be here.”
If you want to know how big of a deal the idea of the New York point guard is, look no further than director Sam Eliad, a guest on the panel alongside Alston. Eliad made a documentary called NYC Point Gods back in 2022. The film features guys like Strickland, Marbury, Kenny Anderson, God Shammgod — you get the idea.
Alston said it was a “no-brainer” to contribute to the doc.
“When they rolled out the list of the guys that were gonna be on, I couldn’t resist,” he said.
Funny enough, he said guys were salty they weren’t included. It wasn’t personal. There were simply too many New York point guards to include.
The way Skip 2 My Lou tells it, it’s what they were all meant to do.
“What separates us New York point guards I think … is when we’re born, I think they put a basketball in our crib,” he said. “We’re almost bred to be point guards here in New York. The point guard list goes back to Bob Cousy, [Nate] ‘Tiny’ Archibald, all these names. …
“You have so many that you can follow behind and idolize. It’s almost your calling to be a point guard when you grow up in New York City.”
Perhaps the next to be called is already hooping at Gauchos Gym, following the legends before them.
