PHOENIX — At Villanova, where coach Jay Wright was a stickler for nutrition, Josh Hart’s parka doubled as a barrier against the Philly chill and a stowaway for chewy treats.
“I’d dump a box of Mike & Ike in my parka. Because if they ever saw me with it, they’d make me throw it out,” Hart said in an interview with The Post. “So I had to sneak it and hide it. Like I was like a little fat kid.”
Hart, a chiseled Knicks forward, is quite the opposite of fat.
He’s also now 28 years old, a father to twin boys and an NBA veteran who doesn’t have to hide his beloved Mike & Ike’s anymore.
Before every game, Hart is at his locker with a family size of the candy and a bag of popcorn.
It’s a pregame meal, devoid of nutritional value but bursting with fun, that Hart refuses to skip.
Wednesday in Utah, for instance, Hart ordered an Uber Eats delivery from Walgreens to the Knicks locker room for Mike & Ike’s.
He added a bag of Air Heads to spice things up.
“I just threw those in the order, said f–k it,” Hart said. “Just a little other addition to see how it vibes.”
The Mike & Ike ritual, which started in high school (the popcorn was added in the NBA), can’t be accused of sapping Hart’s energy.
His game is predicated on hustle, defense and rebounding, which helped secure Hart a spot on Team USA and an $81 million contract extension in the summer.
Elevated this season to sixth man in Tom Thibodeau’s rotation, Hart musters enough strength from his 6-foot-4 sugar-enriched frame to serve as the backup power forward.
But the candy has done a number on his teeth.
“Before you ask, yes, I’ve had cavities, I’ve had root canals,” he said.
The worst example of tooth negligence was in Orlando COVID bubble of 2020, when Hart was with the Pelicans and underwent a root canal.
The dentist warned Hart against eating for a while, but sugar called during a game and his bubble experience was ruined.
“It was an exhibition, a ramp-up game, and I wasn’t playing,” Hart said. “So I was on the sideline. And I started eating Mike & Ike’s. And I ripped the crown out. So I was screwed. For like the duration of the bubble, I had an open tooth.”
Hart’s pregame diet feeds into his persona of carefree, fun, the jokester of the locker room.
As Jalen Brunson said, “He’s still two years old. Loves candy. He’s older than me but it’s like having a little brother.”
After a playoff game last season, Hart sat next to Brunson for a postgame press conference with a box of Mike & Ike on the table.
Product placement.
The company responded by sending him 10 boxes with a personalized letter, and Hart seems a perfect candidate for the rare athlete-candy sponsorship deal.
“Get Mike & Ike on the phone,” he told a Knicks P.R. director.
Hart knows who to call. His fanfare took him on a tour of the Just Born candy factory in Bethlehem, Pa., about an hour drive from Villanova.
He’s living the fifth-grader’s dream.
“I had the whole tour,” he said. “I saw Mike & Ike’s, Peeps, Hot Tamales, Peanut Chews.”