As Carmelo Anthony sat on the Oklahoma City bench in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, waiting for the game against the Knicks to begin, the arena went dark.
Anthony’s return to New York for the first time since he was traded to the Thunder in September had been highly anticipated, in part because no one could be quite sure what kind of reception he would get from Knicks fans who watched him score a lot of points over the years without all that much to show for it.
But when the pregame blackout at the Garden suddenly cut away to a video tribute to Anthony it was clear that no one was in the mood to boo him, at least not before tipoff.