LeBron James didn’t need long to feel the temperature in Madison Square Garden.
In his regular-season debut for the Philadelphia 76ers on opening night against the defending-champion New York Knicks, James got a rough welcome from the crowd in the first half. The 41-year-old was booed and then hit with chants aimed at a comment he made earlier this summer, when he said he would have joined the Knicks in free agency if they hadn’t won the championship last season.
“We don’t want you!” the crowd yelled at James during his free-throw attempts.
The scene only escalated later in the half. James got into a heated exchange with a Knicks fan along the sideline, apparently after the fan told him to go back to the West Coast.
James answered back on the live broadcast: “I’m not from the West Coast. I’m from Ohio.
Baby, what the f-k are you talking about?”
Reggie Miller said on the broadcast that Spike Lee wound up stepping in between James and the fan to calm things down.
“There comes LeBron, let’s see who he was having words with over here… That’s the last thing you want to do is get LeBron James going here… And guess who’s playing peacemaker? Spike Lee! He’s over here playing peacemaker, oh boy, I have seen everything,” Miller said on the live broadcast.
Mike Tirico also noted that people in the building were taking shots at James, saying crowd members told him that just because he lives in New York and flies in by helicopter doesn’t mean New Yorkers will back him.
The backdrop only made the reaction louder. Earlier this week, NBA insider Brian Windhorst said James had always wanted to be drafted by the Knicks instead of the Cavaliers, but that history did nothing to soften the Garden crowd.
James had already addressed his Knicks connection last month in an interview with ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, laying out why he didn’t seriously pursue New York in free agency.
“I had visions of playing in [Madison Square] Garden and finishing my career in the Garden,” James said. “One of the best places I’ve ever played.
I think it’s the No. 1 arena in the world, as far as for a basketball player. But after they beat San Antonio, I was like, ‘Hey, I can’t.’
I couldn’t do it.”
“Y’all wouldn’t have let me lay that down at all,” James further added. “But much respect to the Knicks, obviously.
An unbelievable team, unbelievable players. Shout out, Jalen Brunson.
I love that guy; he’s unbelievable. But, yeah, I’m happy where I’m at, and I’m looking forward to it.”
For one night, though, the focus wasn’t on the move to Philadelphia. It was on the response in New York, where James’ first trip back to Madison Square Garden as a 76er turned into a hostile affair almost immediately.
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