Much has been made of the “Nova Knicks,” one of the more unlikely stories in recent NBA history. Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo each won two NCAA Championships together on Jay Wright's Villanova squad, and now they've reunited on the New York Knicks.
Brunson and Hart recently chopped it up with Wright, even confronting him about not attending their playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, via The Roommates Show (1:10:14 mark).
“Did you get my reasoning for why I couldn’t come to those 76ers games?” Wright asked.
“You were scared,” Brunson joked.
That’s family guys, I can’t I’m sorry,” Hart added sarcastically.
“No, it wasn’t just that, it was Doug West, Reggie Redding, and I watched you guys after the game whether you hugged him or not, I was so happy to see you guys kid,” Wright said. “And Kyle [Lowry], there’s another part of this, but those 3 were on that team, and we always say everyone's role is different but everyone’s status is the same. Doug and Reggie are assistant coaches, they’re not players but they're part of our family, they’re part of our team too. So we had the 3 of you and the 3 of them and I knew everyone was going to say oh, he’s all Knicks, all Knicks. I wanted to just watch you guys do your thing. Me and Patti [Wright's wife] watched every game by ourselves, I was going crazy she was just like ‘yo chill man.'”
This conundrum isn't uncommon for college coaches watching their former players in the pros. With Villanova being a perennial powerhouse, it constantly sends players and coaches to the NBA, and Wright didn't want to show any favoritism when both teams had former Wildcats. If he had shown up, the media might've said he was campaigning for the Nova Knicks.
However, the irony is that Wright won his championships with the Knicks' trio, not the Sixers', via Sports Reference.
Should Brunson and Hart let their old coach off the hook, or should they force him to come next time?
The Nova Knicks might have to win a ring without Wright in the crowd
Brunson continued to harass Wright, asking him about his wife Patti's team allegiance.
“Who did Patti cheer for?” Brunson asked.
“She’s a little bias for the players we had 3 players against 1, you know she loves Kyle but she’s a little bias towards the players,” Wright admitted. “The funniest thing was, I got to tell you I was so afraid that Josh and Kyle were going to get into it that game, I was so afraid, that’s I was worried about it’s like watching your kids play.”
Lowry, who's known to get in dust-ups, was physical with Hart the entire series.
“I almost caught him with an elbow,” Hart said.
“I was watching after the game like, did those 2 hug after the end of the series, please let those 2 hug, you guys were going at it,” Wright replied.
Wright's perspective is a sweet reminder of how important coaches are to players' lives at the college level. For him to look at his former players as his grown-up kids goes to show how closely he bonded with them, and how proud he must be of who they've become. One can imagine how nerve-wracking it is to watch them nearly get into fights multiple times.
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