Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were given a warm welcome at the Garden on Saturday — but this time was not for basketball.
The two Knicks stars made WWE appearances during WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Brunson, sporting sunglasses and a brace on his left wrist, was met with a booming roar from the crowd as he emerged from the tunnel alongside Roman Reigns at about 10:00 p.m. for the final event of the night.
Fireworks shot off in the arena as the two pointed up, a reference to the wrestler’s iconic “The One” gesture.
The three-time All-Star was then showered in “MVP” and “Jalen Brunson” chants once the intro concluded.
Brunson was then gifted a custom blue and orange WWE championship belt as the crowd chanted “you deserve it.”
Following the entrance, however, Brunson was greeted by Knicks villain Tyrese Haliburton as Seth Rollins hit Reigns with a sneak attack.
With help from Brunson, Reigns ultimately tossed Rollins out of the ring, and he and Haliburton left the stage.
The Knicks’ Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy was then brought into the ring, with Reigns holding it in the air as Brunson donned the wrestler’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt.
Brunson, who is still recovering from surgery on his left wrist, largely stayed to the side as the two wrestlers duked it out.
Towns, who took the stage earlier in the night, was a bit more physical. He helped Danhausen — known for “uncursing” the Knicks after going down 2-1 against the Hawks in the first round — defeat JD McDonagh after making a surprise entrance late in the match.
The Knicks’ center made his entrance in epic fashion, walking out of a smoke-filled container titled “cloning machine box.”
Then during the match he choke-slammed McDonagh before doing the same to Dominik Mysterio through a wooden table.
Danhausen then finished off McDonagh with a “Triple D” for the win.
Towns linked up with Danhausen before the event, with the two meeting before Fanatics Fest on Wednesday.
When Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin introduced the two to each other, Towns immediately payed his respects to the wrestler for good karma to the Knicks during their finals run.
“Do you know who this is?” Rubin asked Towns.
“Of course, the man who got us the chip,” Towns responded.
After Danhausen’s remarks in during their first round series, the Knicks proceeded to win 15 of their next 16 games en route to their first NBA Finals championship in 53 years.
Despite the acknowledgement, Danhausen felt that he needed something in return from Towns.
“Give me your watch,” Danhausen jokingly told Towns. “Yeah, I need the watch. Shoes, too.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
