LeBron James returns to NYC, but these aren’t the Knicks he’s used to playing at Madison Square Garden

No one knows for sure if this is the last time LeBron James will take the court at Madison Square Garden, no farewell tour plotted or announcements that this is the last time in town.

But if James isn’t hinting, at 40 years old it’s hard not to wonder. He’s already gotten the opportunity to play with his son Bronny. He’s made his way to the top of most categories in the record books. And even if he isn’t sure, speculating he’s got another year or two in him — and why would he call it the end when he’s continuing to mock the notion of aging — it’s safe to assume he’s arriving with the intention of making one more magical moment on the favorite stage of stars for decades.

He’s celebrated on this stage so many times already. In James’ 32 games at the Garden, he’s averaged 28 points, slightly better than his overall career numbers, and had a run earlier in his career when he seemed to make history every time he took the court. There was a 50-point, 10-assist performance in 2008, then a 52-point, 11-assist night the next season. In 2010, there was a 32-point triple-double, and then in 2023, he compiled a 28-point, 11-assist, 10-rebound triple-double.

LeBron has been the star of the show in his games in the spotlight of New York City, winning 23 times and forcing the Knicks to take a backseat on their own court. And he still may be — a national television audience watching  in primetime is no accident — but unlike many of those years, this year’s version of the Knicks are not the Washington Generals to his Harlem Globetrotter efforts.

He’s not the only star who has sought out moments at Madison Square Garden. Kobe Bryant relished his opportunities at the Garden, including a 61-point showcase and even in his final game there in 2015, with no official word, he made sure to wave goodbye to the crowd as he made his way into the tunnel, leaving the floor for what would be the last time.

It’s the favorite place for nearly every star — often even more cherished than their home court. But consider some of these recent stars to step into the spotlight.

• Nikola Jokic with just 17 points in 6-for-15 shooting.
• Ja Morant leaving with 10 points on 5-for-13 shooting.
• De’Aaron Fox finishing with 14 points on 6-for-20 from the field.

Even when Anthony Edwards recently put up 36 points, it might have been Julius Randle with more emotion and he got just eight points.

The allure of the Garden hasn’t diminished, and the desire of these stars to showcase themselves on the New York City stage hasn’t changed. But the Knicks have. They are now the team with the 32-16 record and in third place in the Eastern Conference, while the Lakers are 27-19 and fifth in the West — behind the teams the Knicks beat in their last two games.

And the Knicks are the team that has begun to flex the defensive muscle that they anticipated in the summer when they traded a huge haul of draft picks for Mikal Bridges and signed OG Anunoby to the richest contract in franchise history.

“We’re just doing a good job of getting the defense going,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “No one ever judges us about this team’s offensive firepower, but, you know, I understand that we haven’t shown the the best version of ourselves defensively, and I think that these last couple games we’ve been able to show execution on that side.

“I think we’re doing a good job of just utilizing what we have. We have a lot of athleticism one through five. And for us to have that athleticism to match the IQ, I think we’re just being great at the point of attack, the physicality and making teams turn the ball over. [That’s] something we’re doing really well right now.”

In Anunoby, the Knicks have a player who can physically match up against James as well as anyone and it’s another challenge for a team that has taken these tests head on lately. As Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau likes to say, players like LeBron James are not tasked to one player but to a team defensive effort. And in recent weeks the players has begun to show that they are defending as a team.

“I think at times we’re trying to buckle down defensively,” Josh Hart said. “We’re switching and we’re doing it properly. We’re communicating. We’re not giving up slip layups or threes behind the screen or anything like that. We’re communicating at a high level and just making teams see bodies. That’s something we’ve got to continue to do. Earlier we were winning games with our offense, now we’re winning games with our defense.”

And that may be the way that they have to do it Saturday night when LeBron James will want to put on a show at least one more time.