May were wondering what kind of reception Carmelo Anthony would receive upon his return to Madison Square Garden, this time as an opponent. It didn’t take long for New York Knicks fans to answer that question.
Knicks fans gave Anthony cheers during pregame introductions on Saturday night ahead of the Knicks-Oklahoma City Thunder game. A tribute video to ‘Melo was also played. You can see the video and fan reaction:
Some fans could have held it against ‘Melo that he failed to win a championship during his time in New York and arguably underachieved, but they didn’t. Perhaps the public mistreatment of Anthony by former team exec Phil Jackson turned the 12-time All-Star into somewhat of a sympathetic figure and made it easy to welcome him back. After all, Anthony was not shy about his desire to remain with the Knicks for the rest of his career, which likely played well with the fans.
In the end, Anthony’s new team lost to his old team in convincing fashion, 111-96. And Anthony came far from enjoying a revenge game as he shot just 5-for-18 for 12 points.
