Gilbert Arenas, Trae Young Talk Villain Status After 2021 Knicks Series
Madison Square Garden, also known as the "World's Most Famous Arena," has provided countless memories in favor, but also heavily against the New York Knicks' home court advantage.
Michael Jordan scored 55 points at MSG in 1995. Stephen Curry's 54-point outing in the Garden in 2013 is widely considered as the game that made him famous. Reggie Miller scored 25 points in the fourth quarter alone in a 1994 visit, a year before he infamously scored eight in less than nine seconds at the end of a postseason game.
The 2021 first round playoff series between the Knicks and Atlanta Hawks is among the latest Garden invasions. Hawks point guard Trae Young was dominant in the three games he played in New York, finishing with averages of 32.6 points and 8.6 assists during the trio and famously capping things off with a bow during the clinching win. MSG was the loudest it had been in quite some time during that series, mostly berating the Hawks point guard in his postseason debut.
Three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas spoke about the five-game series on Young's podcast, "From The Point," acknowledging that the series has come to define the 24-year-old's career.
"It's crazy how you went into the Garden and really f**ked them up," Arenas told Young. "Most of the media is New York. They personally took offense to what you did in the Garden."
Arenas believes the New York media made Young the villain he's perceived as against some teams today because he "owned it" at the Garden, contrasting the relative hero status others have been bestowed to others who have planted their best. The former Washington Wizards deemed it unfair that Young's been given this unwanted identity.
"If that was any other player, if Luka (Doncic) did that to the New York Knicks, they would be (considered) a god," Arenas said.
Young agreed with a simple "I know."
Arenas came up with the notion that this may have been Young's destiny.
"You're supposed to go down as the man who destroyed the Garden," Arenas said.
This isn't the first time this topic has been brought up this offseason, as Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green discussed it with Young in July. The Knicks' 2023-24 schedule hasn't come out yet, but Young's visit should once again draw fans, especially considering the meandering nature of a Hawks team coming off an unsuccessful showing in the Eastern Conference's Play-In Tournament.
You can follow Hunter De Siver on Twitter @HunterDeSiver.
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