BUILDING A PERFECT BEAST
Fizdale: Garden will help draw stars, turn Knicks into winners
CLEVELAND — 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 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 fulltime workplace — not just a place to come for 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 passionate about playing the Midtown 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 and were more likely to play hurt in New York than other cities.
Durant will be a free agent in July and may actually have the guts to sign with the Knicks — unlike James.
“I can’t speak for him, but I just know this place attracted me,” Fizdale said Tuesday, before the Knicks traveled here to face the LeBron-free Cavaliers (6-21) on Wednes- day. “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.”
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.”
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-performtonight 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 will be 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 looking fresh. Because it’s the Garden, man — in front of the whole world.”
James never wanted to become a Knick. His welldocumented 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 roadblocks in recent times.
But in 2010, when he teamed with Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami and the Knicks boasted loads of cap space, sources at the time indicated James didn’t want his family to be besieged daily in the media capital of the world.
Kanter had a Twitter feud with James last season after he had claimed he was “King of New York’’ after a Cavaliers Garden victory. Kanter corrected that it was still Kristaps Porzingis, but Tuesday he appreciated James’ Garden sentiment.
“It’s definitely awesome to see a guy talking about our arena like that,’’ Kanter said.