HOMECOMING.(The Talk of the Town)(basketball player Stephon Marbury plays in front of hometown crowd after being traded to the New York Knicks)

Publication: The New Yorker

Publication Date: 19-JAN-04

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COPYRIGHT 2004 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.

A buzz enveloped Madison Square Garden last Thursday the likes of which had not been felt there in years. (The Knicks and the Rangers, let's face it, have been awful.) The formidable Houston Rockets, coached by the Knicks' former coach Jeff Van Gundy (with help from Patrick Ewing, the longtime Knicks center), were in town, featuring the giant Yao Ming. It was to be Van Gundy's first appearance at the Garden as an opponent. The big draw, though, was Stephon Marbury's debut in home white. Marbury, who was acquired by the Knicks in a blockbuster trade last week, is not merely one of the league's premier point guards--his arrival brings faint hope for a playoff berth--but a local legend, among the city's best ever kid ballplayers. Nine years ago, Marbury led...

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