Knicks trade away a Garden hero in Donte DiVincenzo
New York Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo. Credit: AP/Michael Conroy
When Donte DiVincenzo joined the Knicks before last season, the expectations were not great.
But as the season moved on, he took over a starting job, and by the postseason, he was recording moments that seemed bound to make him a Knicks legend.
DiVincenzo delivered a game-winning three-pointer at Madison Square Garden in the opening round of the postseason, setting off a wild celebration in the streets outside. And when Mitchell Robinson was dragged to the floor by Joel Embiid, it was the hard-nosed DiVincenzo who went nose-to-nose— or as close to nose-to-nose as possible when you’re giving up nearly a foot — to challenge the massive 76ers center.
In his last game of the season and what would be the last game of his brief Knicks tenure, he scored 39 points to try to keep the Knicks alive in Game 7 against Indiana.
But to get something, you have to give something, and DiVincenzo had to be a part of the deal (along with Julius Randle) for the Timberwolves to budge and surrender Karl-Anthony Towns.
It’s hard to imagine that just a few months away from those postseason highlights and pushing himself into the hearts of New Yorkers, DiVincenzo is gone.
The Knicks swung a deal during the summer for Mikal Bridges, and the group of Bridges, DiVincenzo, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart had the team dubbed “The ’Nova Knicks.” All four had been part of at least one of the two recent national championship teams at Villanova, and they hoped to bring that pedigree to the Garden.
“I love the group,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said the day the season ended when asked if he thought it would return. “As a coach, you couldn’t ask for a better group.”
But Randle and DiVincenzo have departed, and if you include midseason acquisition OG Anunoby, the Knicks have three new starters.
It is the business of basketball, and DiVincenzo, who is heading to his fifth NBA team, knows it well.
“The amount of love I have for the Garden and for Knicks fans, they carried us a lot throughout this season,” DiVincenzo said after that final game. “A lot of injuries and stuff, but to hear that, there’s a special place in my heart for just the support. Ups and downs, it doesn’t matter. Bad game, good game, they ride with you, and you really feel that.”
DiVincenzo set a Knicks franchise record with 283 three-point field goals, connecting on 40.1% of his attempts. He started 63 regular-season games and averaged a career-high 15.5 points per game.
“I’ve talked about this before,” DiVincenzo said at season’s end. “I’ve been on different [teams], and there’s different roles that you play, but I think this is the first time in my career where it’s been a funky year.
“You come in, you have a whole different team than what you do midway through the year and then guys go down. Your role expands.
“Now you get to show what you were behind closed doors for every single day in the offseason. And then that trust continues to build within not only just the locker room but with your coaching staff, with everybody.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
