The New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers squared off at the historic Madison Square Garden on Monday night. After a weekend in which the two sides exchanged words and comments, headlined by Enes Kanter and LeBron James, things got a little physical.
After the Cavaliers win on Saturday night over the Dallas Mavericks, LeBron proclaimed that the Knicks missed on a good one by not drafting Dennis Smith Jr and selecting Frank Ntilikina. Kanter responded by saying the team was happy with what they have in the French guard. LeBron went on to clarify his comments, shut down Kanter and note that he wasn’t taking shots at Frank Ntilikina but instead noting the talents of Smith and also taking shots at former Knicks president Phil Jackson. It’s actually really silly, but things got a little interesting on the court.
Early in the game, after completing an alley-oop dunk off the Dwyane Wade pass, LeBron James landed and oddly enough bumped right into Frank Ntilikina. The rookie point guard didn’t back down. He shoved James a couple times but the ‘King’ barely budged. Then Enes Kanter raced to help his teammate and confront James.
Both players received technicals and the game carried on but the boos for James escalated as the night went on. At the end of the game, James and the Cavs came out on top thanks to some late-game heroics from LeBron.
Following the Cavaliers three-point victory, Kanter was asked about his interaction with James and what the Knicks mindset was during the incident.
After Kanter said the Knicks weren’t afraid of ‘king, queen, princess’ LeBron, it was time for James to respond. And in typical fashion, LeBron took the high, and hilarious, road.
.@KingJames responds to @Enes_Kanter "King, Queen, Princess" comments. #GameTime pic.twitter.com/HWRkgpeWc9
— NBA TV (@NBATV) November 14, 2017
