As LeBron James reaffirmed Monday night at Staples Center, Madison Square Garden has always held a special grip on his heart. Not the Knicks, mind you, but the arena on 33rd Street, sandwiched between 7th and 8th avenues.
In a private conversation with Dwyane Wade after they played against each other for the final time, James chirped on court: “Here or the Garden, that’s it. That’s the only places we could have ended it at, man.”
Now it is Knicks coach David Fizdale’s job to get free-agent stars to want to make the Garden their full-time workplace — not just a snazzy one-night stand.
Fizdale worked side by side with James for four glorious seasons in Miami and knows he, and many others, was manic about playing the midtown Manhattan venue.
Knicks center Enes Kanter even noted his Oklahoma City teammates — including Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook — would get special haircuts the day of the game. Durant will be a free agent this July and may actually strongly consider the Knicks — unlike James ever did.
“I can’t speak for him, but I just know this place attracted me,” Fizdale said Tuesday, before the Knicks traveled to Cleveland to face the LeBron-free Cavaliers on Wednesday. “I wanted to be a part of the organization and being in The Mecca and the Garden. That meant a lot to me in my decision. I know there’s players out there that are gonna be a part of this and be in New York.”
It won’t be James, who signed a four-year deal with the Lakers instead of a two-year pact with an opt-out, a la Durant.
Fizdale said it wasn’t just James who considered it “a basketball haven.” During the 2015 All-Star Game at MSG, James said, “If I could have 82 regular-season games in the Garden, I would because it’s the Mecca of basketball.”
As James can probably attest, ex-Knicks coach Derek Fisher once said players love playing the Garden but not necessarily for the home squad. Fizdale will attempt to change all that.
“I think every player I’ve coached has always walked into Madison Square Garden with this I-have-to-perform-tonight attitude,” Fizdale said. “I have to put on a show. That’s across the league. I think the Lakers face that out there, too. That’s what makes those places special. The history of those places. The fan bases of those places.”
Nobody has embraced the Garden like Kanter, who is a free agent and probably won’t be back if the Knicks sign a star with their cap space.
“Whenever you come to the Garden playing against the Knicks — that night [you] make sure you got your hair cut,” Kanter said. “Make sure you got new kicks. Make sure you’re looking good. If you got any acne on your face, make sure you try to hide it. You want to look your best at the Garden because it’s New York. We play there every night. That’s our home arena. We should feel blessed and very special.
“Every team I played for, we had a group chat. ‘The haircut guys coming [to the hotel] — it’s this much dollars if you want a haircut before the game.’ It’s the Garden. It’s New York. Everybody got new kicks. Everybody looking fresh. Because it’s the Garden, man — in front of the whole world.”
James never wanted to become a Knick full time. His well-documented feud with former team president Phil Jackson over Jackson’s “posse” remark that was deemed racially insensitive and Jackson’s war with Carmelo Anthony were among the problems in recent times.
But in 2010, when he teamed up with Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami and the Knicks boasted loads of cap space, sources at the time indicated King James didn’t want his family to be besieged daily in the media capital of the world.
When asked Tuesday if he was surprised James bolted Cleveland a second time, leaving the franchise in disarray at 6-21, Fizdale said: “I just knew the decision he made was going to be about his family. That’s what he told me when we spoke. It was going to be about his family. That’s what he was thinking about when he did it.”
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