Carmelo Anthony cheered, then booed, in return to New York

For the most part, Carmelo Anthony was received warmly in his return to Madison Square Garden.

After starring for the New York Knicks for seven seasons, Anthony made his first appearance at MSG as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night. The Knicks had a tribute video ready for Anthony as he was introduced in the Thunder’s starting lineup.

After the video was played and his name was called, Anthony received mostly cheers from the crowd.

Once the game started, it was a bit of a different story. Anthony heard some boos when he touched the ball, but when there were plenty of cheers mixed in when he knocked down a 3-pointer for OKC’s first bucket of the game.

As the first half progressed, the boos mostly stopped.

Anthony’s final season in New York was full of drama with then-team president Phil Jackson publicly expressing his desire to move Anthony in a trade. With Anthony’s no-trade clause in place, that proved to be difficult. Ultimately, Anthony was traded to Oklahoma City for Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott.

OKC also acquired former Indiana Pacers star Paul George to pair with MVP Russell Westbrook, but the Thunder is off to just a 14-14 start. New York, with Kristaps Porzingis leading the way, is 15-13 on the year.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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