Josh Hart said he was told a few years ago by a former Knicks All-Star that he and New York would be a “perfect” match.
According to Hart, who is slated to begin his first full season with the Knicks after he signed a four-year contract extension worth $81 million in July, then-Portland teammate Carmelo Anthony predicted as much in 2020 while they were playing in the NBA bubble during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I don’t even know if he’ll remember this conversation, but Melo was like, ‘You’d be a perfect fit in New York.’ And this was three years ago,” Hart says in an interview with Haute Living magazine. “I was like, ‘Yeah, that would be a bucket list play for me.
“And then, obviously, it all came full circle. Now, I get to put on a Knicks jersey, go out there and represent this city.”
Acquired from the Trail Blazers ahead of the trade deadline this past February, Hart instantly became a crowd favorite at Madison Square Garden.
He averaged 10.2 points, seven rebounds and 3.6 assists over 30 minutes in 25 regular-season games for the Knicks, helping them to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2013 before they lost to the Heat.
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Asked Friday what else stood out from the conversation a few years earlier with Anthony, Hart noted that he brought “an ’03 [Chateau] Mouton Rothschild, a hell of a bottle” of wine.
In the magazine piece, he also credited Anthony with teaching him about expensive wines, which Hart now calls “one of my vices.”
“It was cool because it was the bubble, so obviously, we had to bring wine,” Hart said after practice Friday in Tarrytown. “Some of the older guys — JJ [Redick] was there, [former Knicks] Kyle O’Quinn and Lance Thomas, I think were there, too,
“But I just remember [Anthony] mentioned that, and for me, playing in New York was always something I felt would’ve been really cool. I felt like my personality, my game kind of really meshed well with the city and how they are. So, it was a dope moment.”
Indeed, Hart’s hustling style ingratiated him to the Garden faithful down the stretch of last season and in the playoffs, and the seven-year NBA veteran has said several times that “finding a home” and re-signing with the Knicks was an offseason priority.
“I know it’s New York and it’s the Garden. I know it’s not always gonna be like that,” Hart said Friday. “There’s gonna be highs and lows, but for me, I think what they appreciate most is just the authenticity, the blue-collar approach, not taking a play off, just the hustle.
“I think that’s what the city is kind of built on, so it definitely was cool to be cheered on right away. Like I said, it’s not always gonna be like that. There’s gonna be times where I’m not making shots and stuff like that, but the hustle, the toughness, the grit, that’s always gonna be there.”
Even if not every day in practice, Hart admitted Friday, especially after he also participated with Team USA over the summer at the FIBA World Cup
“Me and Thibs, we’ve got an understanding,” Hart joked, referring to his head coach. “You should ask Tom Thibodeau about my practice habits. It’s tough. Practice for me is more about the execution aspect, getting shots up, because how I play … I can’t do that every day for, what, 250 days? 280 days?
“I can’t do that. I’d love to, but I just can’t. So sometimes, practice, it’s practice.”
The 27-year-old Hart is one of four former NCAA champions from Villanova presently on the Knicks’ roster — along with Jalen Brunson, newcomer Donte DiVincenzo and Ryan Arcidiacono. The latter was shipped to Portland in the Hart deal last season and then re-signed by the Knicks in September.
That familiarity was another impetus for re-upping with the Knicks, when Hart could have drawn interest elsewhere in free agency.
“Miami is cool, but New York is home,” Hart told the magazine when asked about the difference between the two cities. “I’m an East Coast kid, but really, I’m a Northeast kid, and I’ve always said that. I have this conversation with people all the time — they say things like, ‘Miami is so fun, this and that.’ I’m like, ‘Yes, you’re right. It’s great now, but once I call it quits, once I retire, I’m gone.
“Compared to New York, Miami is just a no. It doesn’t match the vibe of New York, the hustle and bustle, where everyone is moving and has something to do.”