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After his name was called during the player introductions before the game, a tribute video played on the Madison Square Garden jumbotron for Thunder star forward Carmelo Anthony. The reception in the arena that he received was mostly positive and met with some jeers as well.
The Thunder may have lost to the Knicks, but Anthony enjoyed the experience of his return to New York on Saturday night. According to an article written by Ian Begley of ESPN, Anthony was actually quite surprised by the tribute video and was highly appreciative of the gesture by the Knicks.
“That was big-time, and for me, that goes a long way,” Anthony said. “It's a bittersweet feeling for me — coming back here, knowing the goals that I had, what I wanted to accomplish here and falling short in that category,” he said.
Anthony, who played seven seasons with the Knicks before he was traded to the Thunder this offseason, spoke after the game and felt that he gave it all during it his tenure with New York.
“Somebody who wanted to be here, came here, did what he had to do night in and night out whether people liked it or not, remained positive through all the negative situations and all the negative times,” Anthony said of himself as a player with the Knicks. “Somebody who stayed professional throughout my seven years here and somebody who had hopes and dreams of winning the championship here in New York and fell short at that.”
However, the 10-time NBA All-Star was booed by Knicks fans throughout the game whenever he touched the ball and then when he was subbed out towards the end of the contest. Anthony said he understood the reaction, though.
“They can't cheer for me. I'm on another team,” Anthony said. “They're cheering for their team. They boo for the other team. That's something that I expected.”
On the night, Anthony finished with just 12 points on 5-of-18 shooting from the field in 32 minutes of action.
