Hosting and Toasting: Walt “Clyde” Frazier’s St. Croix

Words by Tasha Brown (Photo: New York Times)—

You may know Walt “Clyde” Frazier from his days as a legendary point guard for the New York Knicks or his current role as the team’s commentator on the MSG Network, but were you aware that the basketball great is also a Caribbean resort proprietor?

At the end of his playing career over three decades ago, Frazier realized that St. Croix—which happens to be the birthplace of another NBA great, Tim Duncan—was his paradise, making the move to divide his time between the island and New York. Today, the showstopping, suit-wearing, catchphrase-dropping Clyde owns an estate with several guest rentals on St. Croix. During the off-season, you can find him soaking up the island’s heat—and personally selecting the perfect landscaping arrangements.

“I have almost two acres of hibiscus, oleander, fruit trees, mango trees — I really got into the plant aspects of St Croix,” Frazier told Caribbean Journal in a recent story on his life in St. Croix. “I design every unit myself.  I select the colors, the fabric — every plant that’s on the property, I selected that plant.”

Style has always been important for Frazier, who became famous for his shocking and unexpected fashions during his days as a Knicks star and continues to “amaze and astound” with his colorful suit selections during the Knicks’ TV broadcasts. His combination of on-court skills and off-court style made him one of the first basketball players to land a sneaker deal, from Puma, and earned him the nickname “Clyde,” after half of the famous bankrobber duo, Bonnie and Clyde. It was a fitting name, given the quick steals the defensive-minded player was known for as a Knick: He even coined the popular term “Tenacious D,” among other obscure word choices and rhyming phrases like “posting and toasting” and “dishing and swishing.”

That sense of style manifests itself in interesting ways on the St. Croix estate, notably in the abundance of gazebos. “I have a lot of gazebos — I love hanging out in gazebos,” Clyde told the Caribbean Journal.

For more on Frazier’s St. Croix estate and how to book a vacation there, visit his website here.