<body><div>Donte DiVincenzo had a testy return to Madison Square Garden Sunday evening after his stunning trade from New York to Minnesota last month, entering into a pair of altercations with Rick Brunson, a Knicks assistant coach and father of franchise star Jalen Brunson. Early in the first quarter, DiVincenzo completed a 13-foot floater through contact from New York guard Josh Hart, heading to the foul line for a 3-point play opportunity. DiVincenzo turned toward his coach Tom Thibodeau to launch a playful barb, saying "[I] can't finish, huh?"The seventh-year guard took a more serious tone as he glared further down the Knicks bench, however, barking "That's what happens when they let you run the show." New York Post reporter Stefan Bondy confirmed that these remarks were directed toward Rick Brunson, from whom DiVincenzo had to be separated after a post-game altercation near the Knicks bench. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Above the rim Donte talking to Knicks bench - regular then voice enhanced <a href="https://t.co/cfZDlRofj9">pic.twitter.com/cfZDlRofj9</a>— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA_NewYork/status/1845632215431925890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2024</a><input type="image" src="empty.gif" style="opacity:0" onerror="s=document.createElement(&quot;script&quot;);s.src=&quot;https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js&quot;;document.body.appendChild(s);"></blockquote>DiVincenzo arrived in New York ahead of the 2023-24 season and played a key role in the Knicks' wildly successful campaign, reaching 50 regular-season wins for the first time this millennium. The sharp-shooting Delaware native shot 40 percent from long range on nearly nine attempts per game, setting the Knicks' franchise record for 3-pointers in a single season. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=47QBDm_0w5tdKGJ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=47QBDm_0w5tdKGJ00" width="620" height="320" ><figcaption>DiVincenzo returned to New York Sunday evening (Photo: David L. Nemec, Getty)</figcaption></figure>The hype around Madison Square Garden only grew as the Knicks added Mikal Bridges from across the East River in Brooklyn this offseason, securing a near-20-point scoring punch and continuing a remarkable connection to the Villanova program. Along with DiVincenzo and Bridges, star point guard Jalen Brunson and Hart all played for the same 2015-16 Wildcats squad, which finished 35-5 and bested North Carolina 77-74 in the national championship game with a legendary Kris Jenkins buzzer-beater. Just three days before the Knicks' training camp, DiVincenzo and star forward Julius Randle learned that they were on the way to Minnesota for four-time All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns. Rumors began to circulate, most notably from SNY's NBA insider Ian Begley, that DiVincenzo was unhappy with an expected bench role to accommodate Bridges' arrival, but DiVincenzo fired back at this speculation in an exclusive interview with Bondy Sunday. It was never a thing of, 'Oh, we got Mikal, I'm pissed off.' I was super excited," DiVincenzo said. "Take the Villanova s–t out of it, I was super excited because we have a very good player coming back to the team. And you get OG [Anunoby] back, now you're looking at, 'Wow we're going to be really good.' There was never a conversation of my role was going to be diminished. There was never a role that my minutes would be diminished. It was the outside assumption and ran with it and it was untrue."</div></body>

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WATCH: Donte DiVincenzo chirps with Knicks bench while shooting FTs, gets heated after the game

Donte DiVincenzo had a testy return to Madison Square Garden Sunday evening after his stunning trade from New York to Minnesota last month, entering into a pair of altercations with Rick Brunson, a Knicks assistant coach and father of franchise star Jalen Brunson. Early in the first quarter, DiVincenzo completed...

WATCH: Donte DiVincenzo chirps with Knicks bench while shooting FTs, gets heated after the game

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