When Josh Hart was five years old, he lived his father's dream and promised he would earn the Boy Scouts of America‘s highest rank, Eagle Scout. As Hart got older, it became a challenge with school and basketball, but he found a way to fulfill his childhood promise one week before his 18th birthday — the age cutoff for the ranking.
In an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints, Hart is currently preparing for his first training camp with the Los Angeles Lakers. As the rookie prepares for his next challenge, he first reflected back on his Boy Scouts experience with Nathan who represented the Eastvale Pack 2017 Cub Scouts at The Optometry Practice of Dr. Alex Corbin Liu.
“The leadership aspect of it is huge,” Hart said on how being an Eagle Scout has translated to basketball and to life in general. “Just being able to lead other guys and tell them what they need to do. It's big in different professions and especially sports. You need that leadership aspect.”
Along with being one of three known Eagle Scouts to play in the NCAA's Final Four (one of them being Lakers assistant coach Mark Madsen), Hart is one of the rare players in today's league to have played all four seasons in college and he has already noticed the difference.
“I learned a lot of attention to detail,” Hart said. “Sometimes you're coming from high school and you don't realize how big the little things are. Winning and losing comes down to a bunch of little things. I definitely can tell the difference physically and being a four-year player at a program like Villanova. I can just tell I'm stronger and physically more mature.”
Unfortunately for Lakers fans, Hart only appeared in two games during the Las Vegas Summer League due to an ankle injury. However, he feels he has made great progress throughout the offseason.
“I had a rough shooting outing at Summer League, but my shooting has improved. Way better, way better,” said Hart. “I'm more comfortable handling the ball, making plays with the ball in my hands and I've always been confident in my defense.”
On The Popcorn Machine with Joey Ramirez, Hart revealed he wants to be the team's defensive stopper for the 2017-18 NBA season. When asked who he is looking forward to defending, there was one particular player that came to mind.
“D-Wade,” Hart said. “That's my favorite player growing up. All the great guards — I want to guard the Russell Westbrooks, the Jimmy Butlers, the Klay Thompsons, the James Hardens. I want to guard those people.”
With Lonzo Ball, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Jordan Clarkson all expected to play major minutes in the backcourt for head coach Luke Walton, Hart has not discussed his potential role heading into training camp.
“Not yet,” Hart said. “I think he's kind of letting us get acclimated to everything and I know he probably figured things were going a mile a minute for us, just trying to pick up certain things. He didn't try to overcoach us or talk to us too much about it. It's definitely a conversation we'll have very soon with training camp coming up. Right now, he's kind of letting us take it step by step and learn.”
As the Lakers currently have the youngest roster in the league (24.2 average age), the rookie guard shared which teammates have taken him under their wing.
“Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance, Briante [Weber] — who is still young but has been in the league for two years now,” Hart said. “Those guys have taken me under their wing and showing me how to execute on the court and be a professional off the court.”
With the 2017-18 NBA season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 19, Hart outlined his individual and team goals.
“For the team, definitely a winning record and making the playoffs,” Hart said. “That's a realistic goal that we have and we expect from ourselves. For myself, I obviously want to get playing time, but I would love to go out there and do well defensively. I want to buckle down. I want to defend. I want to be good enough to be on some type of All-Defensive team or be a player that guys look at and say, ‘Dang, I got to go against him.'”
From being an Eagle Scout to playing all four seasons at Villanova, Hart's journey to the NBA has been a unique one and serves as a great example for present and future Boy Scouts like Nathan. In addition to Hart being the 3-and-D prospect the Lakers were looking for on the court, his high character and leadership abilities are much-needed as President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka are establishing a new culture in their first full season together.
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