CLEVELAND — Anthony Mason was a beloved homegrown player known for his rough-and-tumble play and let’s face it, his creative hairstyles, while starring for the revered and successful Knicks squads of the 1990s.
Josh Hart already has experienced that two-way love-fest relationship at Madison Square Garden, while also sporting the most talked about playoff hairstyle by a Knick since Mason during their first-round playoff series against the Cavaliers.
Hart, whose great uncle was Yankees legend Elston Howard, has been playing the past week with his hair braided in the style of The Bronx Bombers’ famed interlocking NY logo.
“I randomly thought it would be dope if I did a New York logo,” Hart said before the Knicks looked to close out a 3-1 series lead Wednesday night in Game 5 at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
According to Hart, a professional braider he has used “for the past couple of years” named Sandra did the design, which took about two hours to complete. He added this look likely will be changed in “probably the next three or four days.”
“It worked out well,” Hart said. “I know [former NBA player] Gerald Green does a lot of dope stuff, and Sandra used to do Gerald’s [hair]. It’s cool. When I got my jersey retired at Villanova [in 2022], she did the ‘V’ in my hair. So it was a cool little thing.”
Mason, who died in 2015 at 48, used to have various buzz-worthy messages carved into his hair on the side of his head ahead of playoff games. He even was immortalized in the Beastie Boys track “B-Boys Makin’ with the Freak Freak,” with the line, “I got my hair cut correct like Anthony Mason.”
Hart similarly has emerged as an unmistakable crowd favorite at MSG since his arrival in a trade-deadline deal from Portland in February. The Knicks entered Wednesday’s game with a 20-9 record with the versatile guard in the rotation, including three wins in the first four against the Cavaliers.
“I expected the atmosphere in both cities to be electric,” Hart said. “I knew the games were going to be tough. I think every game has really been close. I think every quarter has been close except for that second quarter in Game 2, where they kicked our ass.
“Besides that, I feel like every quarter has been competitive, the atmosphere has been great. The adversity has been there. So yeah, it’s pretty much what I expected.”
Hart played in the Knicks’ Game 2 loss despite suffering a sprained ankle late in the series opener. He says the ankle is “still a little stiff, but just about back to 100 percent.”
With Quentin Grimes sidelined in Game 4 with a shoulder injury, Hart logged 42 minutes, finishing with 19 points, seven rebounds and two steals. He averaged 13.5 points, 6.8 boards and 1.5 steals over the first four games, while shooting 60.0 percent from the floor and 5-for-9 from 3-point range.
It has been anything but a jittery postseason debut for the six-year NBA veteran.
“I think the biggest thing is just my style of play,” Hart said. “I go out there and just find my way to impact the game and try to impact winning.
“Whether that’s in transition, offensive rebounds, catch-and-shoot 3s, defensively doing anything. … So for me, it wasn’t too much of a feeling-out process because I didn’t have to worry about me getting whatever play call, or [Cleveland] defending that differently. Mine was just going out there and finding my spots and picking my spots and being aggressive. That’s the hardest thing to scout.”
Jalen Brunson, also a teammate of Hart’s at Villanova, said after Game 4 that Hart was “raised for this” postseason environment, especially late in games.
“The fourth quarter, and especially the last six minutes, that’s winning time,” Hart said. “In my mind, there’s no such thing as fatigue, no such thing as being tired, no such thing as being hurt.
“If I’m out there, that’s the time where I gotta raise my attention to detail, raise my intensity, raise my energy even more. And that’s something that I’ve always been wired to do. So for me, it’s once that time hits, it’s totally different. In my eyes, it’s 0-0 and you’ve got to go win it.”