RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley will make their return to Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, the first time the two will be back in New York since the trade that brought OG Anunoby to the Knicks last month.
Both Barrett and Quickley were first-round picks by the Knicks, and were essential pieces in bringing the franchise back to the playoffs.
because of that, and doing it the right way, BT and Sal agree that both players are well deserving of a video tribute as MSG.
“I do believe that softness and placating people, it’s ridiculous.
It’s too much. A lot of these teams, ‘Oh, so and so is back, let’s put up a tribute montage, even though he did nothing for us.’ It’s out of hand,” BT said. “But then you get to [Saturday] night...you know the fans are gonna do the right thing and show love to RJ Barrett and IQ.
“I like to save those nights for Charles Oakley, Ewing, John Starks, Sprewell…but when they were brought here, the Knicks were wretched. Yeah, there were some ineffiencies with Barrett…but they were here during a transitional, pivotal point in Knicks history. They embraced the Knicks way and never disappointed us in fans in terms of trying to do the right thing. Those are the people that you honor.”
Sal completely agrees, as Barrett and Quickley are deserving of praise from their former team and the fanbase, and not just for what they did on the court.
“I think they will, and I think they should,” Sal said. “Normally I would lean no. you should earn it. I do think RJ and Quickley have earned it, and deserve a tribute. It’s not gonna be the same as Patrick Ewing coming back for his first game as a Sonic…I do think RJ, and to a lesser extent Quickley, deserve tributes.”