Jalen Brunson and the ‘Villanova’ Knicks, with Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, are set to make their first visit to the NBA Finals after Brunson’s major sacrifice helped bring together a solid team that had known each other since college and had played together.
Three of the five starters on the Knicks went to college together at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. They won two NCAA national championships together (2016 and 2018), so it was a common perception that they would have chemistry organically on the Knicks.
However, Josh Hart revealed that he did not like Jalen Brunson or Mikal Bridges when he first saw them. He recalled his side of the story during the press conference ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
“I hated Jalen. I thought he was one of those annoying five-star recruits who come in entitled,” Hart hilariously recalled.
“Unfortunately, he was the opposite, and we sparked a friendship, and we’re still friends to this day. But yeah, we still keep in touch. But that’s what my thought process was. I hated him to start. Hated him during his visit. Probably the beginning of his freshman year, I hated him.”
“Mikal was the same way. I hated him, too. He came in, and we obviously played similar positions, especially in college. And, he was just, he was weaker, more frail than I was, so he would grab me, and I hated it. So obviously love those guys now, but I didn’t really [love them initially].”
“Was there a road trip? No. I think I lived with Jalen during his sophomore year. And we just happened, you become close just with that situation. He was still extremely annoying, but I got to be able to tolerate the annoyingness a little bit more because I had to deal with it every single day.”
“I kind of tormented Mikal a little bit, as an older guy. I think there was one time I texted him after I, like, threw him to the ground one practice. I texted him after I was like, ‘Yo, you good?’ And like, you know, we hashed it out then, and we’ve been cool since.”
It is commonly observed that a lot of close friendships begin with people not really liking each other until they get to know the person. Something you also observe in playgrounds, a kid’s best friend is often the one who he/she fought initially with.
The same thing has happened with the Knicks’ core trio, who have been teammates since their NCAA days. But now they are faced with the biggest challenge in their careers so far, to face Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs on the biggest stage possible in the league, the NBA Finals.
Josh Hart Says Knicks Should Not Focus Too Much On Victor Wembanyama
Josh Hart was an X-factor in the Knicks’ surprising sweep of the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. While the Cavaliers’ defense focused on stopping Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart exploited the open looks he got and made the Cleveland players pay, especially in Game 2.
But the same may not happen against the Spurs, who have a lot better perimeter defenders than the Cavaliers did. Hart was later asked in the press conference how the Knicks are preparing themselves to face Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs’ resilient defense.
“I don’t know if you could really prepare for that because there’s not a situation that really is similar to that situation. But, for us, I think if we focus on ourselves and focus on the habits that we’re building, we’ll put ourselves in good situations to be successful.”
“We can’t just focus too much on one player and focus on Wembanyam too much because obviously they have a lot of extremely talented guys that could, you know, go off any single game. So, we’re focused on them as a whole, but he’s an interesting guy to game plan for,” Hart concluded.
If you include the NBA Cup championship game, the Knicks were 2-1 against the Spurs in the regular season. So they know they can find a way to nullify the impact of Wembanyama. But the Spurs are also playing with a chip on their shoulder, seeking revenge for that loss in the championship game.
The Knicks are now on the road to face the Spurs at San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center tomorrow night (June 3). It will be interesting to see how the power of the Villanova trio plans to counter the threat of Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.
