Walt Frazier, 71, won two NBA championships with the New York Knicks in the 1970s. He is a TV commentator for the Knicks and co-owns Clyde Frazier’s Wine and Dine restaurant in New York. He spoke with Marc Myers.

When I joined the New York Knicks in 1967, the team put me up at the New Yorker Hotel near Madison Square Garden and picked up most of the bill. After our first championship in 1970, I rented a penthouse at 220 E. 54th St. near Third Ave. I also rented two parking spaces in the basement garage. I didn’t want my...