A heated exchange between DiVincenzo and Brunson during a preseason game led to tensions flaring, as the two had to be separated at Madison Square Garden.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo, playing at Madison Square Garden for the first time since being traded from New York two weeks ago, had to be separated from Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson after the Knicks won 115-110 in a preseason game Sunday night.
While players and coaches were exchanging handshakes and hugs as the game concluded, DiVincenzo and Brunson – who is the father of Knicks star Jalen Brunson – had a brief verbal altercation on the court.
“I was talking to Thibs,” DiVincenzo was heard saying on camera to Rick Brunson at one point.
Earlier in the game, DiVincenzo had already been seen at the free throw line shouting toward the Knicks’ sideline.
“That’s what happens when they let you run the show,” DiVincenzo said twice before taking a free throw in the first quarter.
A video of the postgame incident showed Brunson pointing and talking at DiVincenzo during the on-court commotion.
Brunson eventually moved closer to DiVincenzo, but members from both teams quickly intervened.
“Some words. I don’t know fully well what was said,” DiVincenzo commented after the game when asked about facing the Knicks for the first time since his trade last month.
“There were a lot of people there. But I really have no comment on the situation. I think we’ll both be men and talk about it privately.”
During the incident, Jalen Brunson, the Knicks’ star point guard, stepped in to keep things calm.
He first tried to pull DiVincenzo away, who was his former roommate at Villanova, and later stood next to his father as the exchange came to a close.
DiVincenzo had a breakout year with the Knicks, playing alongside his college teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. He posted a career-best 15.5 points per game last season, shooting 44.3% from the field and hitting 40.1% of his three-pointers, marking another personal high.
The Knicks shook up their former Villanova Wildcat core—Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart—by trading for Karl-Anthony Towns. On Sunday, DiVincenzo tallied 15 points and seven assists against his former squad.
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