Knicks reassign Cleanthony Early to D-League...which is a good thing

Oh well, it was a fun 19 seconds.

New York Knicks forward Cleanthony Early is headed back to Westchester:

Knicks re-assign Cleanthony Early, who suited up for them last night for first time since December shooting, to D-League.

— Brian Mahoney (@briancmahoney) March 21, 2016

Cle was inserted into Sunday night's home game against the Kings just before halftime -- his first taste of NBA action since being shot in the knee in a Dec. 30 robbery. It was a nice moment in an otherwise not-so-nice game.

.@Clearly_BallLyf: "It felt great, especially after the incident, to get out there doing what I do."

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 21, 2016

Let's play devil's advocate here and say that the Knicks are making the right decision, even with fellow forwards Carmelo Anthony and Lance Thomas nursing various injuries. Early's total game experience since his return amounts to 14 minutes of D-League action, plus those 19 seconds of NBA time. He missed the W-Knicks' last two games with some sort of illness. The kid needs as many minutes as possible, and that ain't gonna happen in New York at the moment.

Chin up, young Cleanthony. You'll be back at MSG before you know it.