Josh Hart has been integral to the New York Knicks‘ success since his mid-season arrival from the Portland Trail Blazers. Hart has carried over his strong form from the regular season to the NBA Playoffs, and he's now played a key role in their second-round series against the Miami Heat. As it turns out, however, Hart nearly missed out on Friday's crucial Game 6 showdown for a very compelling reason.

ESPN's Malika Andrews reported that Hart was almost forced to sit out Friday's must-win contest due to the birth of his twin boys:

“Josh Hart almost did not play in this pivotal Game 6,” Andrews said.

You have to note that Game 6 is in Miami, which means that Hart is currently more than a thousand miles away from his wife, Shannon Phillips, who is situated in New York. As such, the Knicks reportedly had a contingency plan in place for Hart which included a private plane, a helicopter, and a police escort in the event that he had to rush back to New York.

True enough, the fateful day came on Friday just hours before Game 6 tipped off. According to Andrews, Josh Hart was already on his way to the airport when the doctor told him that he probably wouldn't make it in time to see the birth of his twins:

“He had a tough decision to make,” Andrews continued. “Ultimately, he decided to get back in the car, turn around, go to his hotel room in Miami where the Knicks had helped to set up a sort of makeshift Zoom so that he could be there remotely. 
 No matter the results of this game, he has a car, he has a plane on standby. When the final buzzer sounds, he is going to be rushing back to New York so that he can meet his new family.”

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What a great story for Josh Hart, who with his wife, has now welcomed his first two children to their family. As Malika Andrews said, this should give the Knicks stud some extra motivation (and perhaps some new dad superpowers?) when New York tries to starve off elimination in Game 6 against the Heat.