This isn’t Eddie Giacomin and Mark Messier returning to the Garden in the garish vestments of the Red Wings and the Canucks, or Patrick Ewing in those eyes-sore Sonics uniforms they used to wear, or Clyde Frazier in the off-putting burgundy and gold of the Cavaliers. It isn’t Tom Seaver tipping his hat on the first day he appeared at Shea Stadium as a Cincinnati Red, or Reggie Jackson reaching the upper tank at the old Stadium as a California Angel.
In truth, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were here only for a relative eye blink of time. Combined they only played 500 games as Knicks. They never took a ride up the Canyon of Heroes. They never made an All-Star Game in orange and blue. Whatever they’re going to become as professional basketball players, barring a reunion down the line, the best parts will happen for the Raptors or for some other team.
But they should still be welcomed warmly Saturday night when they play their first games in the Garden as Raptors — and, more pointedly, as ex-Knicks.
“I don’t know what they’re going to do,” Barrett told The Post’s Stefan Bondy earlier this week, “but I love the fans.”
Knicks’ regulars. Noah K. Murray for the NY Post
By a large margin, that feeling was equally returned by those fans, for both Barrett and Quickley. Barrett may have arrived as something of a consolation prize — the bronze medal in the 2019 draft, following Zion Williamson and Ja Morant — but he quickly found favor among Garden faithful drawn by his work ethic and his commitment to improving his game, something that happened in each of his five years.
Quickley was also an immediate hit with the fans, showing a fearlessness and a flair that connected with the regulars. Both players went through slumps, and both heard occasional groans when they scuffled, but that’s the soundtrack of New York no matter which sport you play, no matter which uniform you wear.
Both of them got New York. And both of them liked New York.
Barrett told Bondy: “I kept working. I didn’t try to get in any back-and-forths. One thing you got to know about Knicks fans, they want to win. They want to win just as much if not more than the players do. To understand that was huge for me.”
And in a farewell that he penned for The Players Tribune, Quickley wrote: “I wish I could hug all of you guys. Every night you go out there on the court, you’re playing for the team above all else. But the way you guys embraced me gave me something to play for that was bigger than myself, bigger than the team. Every night, deep down I was playing for you.”
Here’s the thing, too: Fans have a good sense of when their sporting commitments are properly invested. Giants fans never once questioned whether Eli Manning or Justin Tuck were exactly what they presented themselves as. Same thing with Mets fans and David Wright, or Yankees fans with the Core Four.
Barrett’s No. 9 became an instant hit among the Knicks’ teen and tween fans. Quickley’s game drew just as many squeals as roars because it appealed to the younger kids, and what he did well was something those kids could relate to far more than, say, Giannis Antetokounmpo grabbing a rebound with his elbow over the rim.
They liked it here. And it showed.
And now they are gone, but those exiles didn’t come amid the usual culprits of hard words and bad feelings. This really, truly, seems to be a trade where everyone wins: the Knicks got OG Anunoby, whose two-way game filled a gaping hole in their makeup (and Anunoby stands to make a killing with an extension). Barrett, born in Toronto and raised 15 miles away in Mississauga, goes home a conquering hero. Quickley, unleashed, hopes to cash maybe a nine-figure score in free agency.
Win. Win. Win. Win.
So there should be little question how this should go Saturday night, whether there’s video tributes or not. Both will be in the Raptors’ starting lineup. The cheers should be loud, and long. This is New York. This is the Garden. We know how to salute old friends, and we know how to say thanks for the memories. Even if we were all just getting used to saying hello when it was time to say good-bye.
