Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart call out former Villanova coach Jay Wright
It started when reporter John Fanta said that he spoke to former Villanova coach Jay Wright about Josh Hart’s eating habits in his postgame press conferences with the New York Knicks. Hart’s latest meal was Ledo’s Pizza, which he devoured after the Knicks beat the Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
During the playoffs, Hart has eaten popcorn, chicken wings, and now pizza, much to the annoyance of Jalen Brunson. Don’t let Brunson fool you, though. Remember how he reacted when he learned that the Knicks had traded for Hart ahead of the February deadline. The two won a national title together at Villanova and six years after they last suited up for the Wildcats, Leon Rose reunited the two in New York.
The duo has been back at it for a few months now, but the playoffs have brought another level of entertainment to Knicks fans.
😂 Josh Hart tries to sneak pizza, gets caught with mouth full, gets called out by Jalen Brunson—and by his Villanova coach Jay Wright (via John Fanta) 😂 pic.twitter.com/cLeg1sYM8x
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) May 3, 2023
How does Wright feel about Hart’s postgame grub? Well, let’s just say that if Hart were still a Wildcat, he wouldn’t be getting by with it.
"“When they were in college, I would have killed Josh if he was doing that (eating chicken wings or popcorn after a game) because we were trying to teach Josh to get to Jalen’s mentality level at the time,” Wright said."
When Fanta brought up what Wright said to Brunson and Hart after New York’s Game 2 win, Brunson said that he had “no comment” and Hart said that Wright needs to come to a Knicks game. Brunson agreed with him and added that he’s “publicly calling out” Wright.
Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart send message to former Villanova coach Jay Wright
Jay Wright retired as head coach of Villanova in April of 2022. He won two national titles as a Wildcat (as did Jalen Brunson) and spent the 2022-23 season as a college basketball analyst for CBS Sports.
Not only should Wright make it to an Eastern Conference Semifinals Knicks-Heat game for Brunson and Hart, but there’s also Kyle Lowry, who played for Villanova from 2004-06. Wright isn’t rooting for New York or Miami but did tell John Fanta that he enjoyed seeing Brunson and Hart trap Lowry at the end of Game 1.
Now that Brunson and Hart have called Wright out for not making it to a Knicks game yet, their former coach has said that he’s going to try to make it to the Garden for Game 5 on Wednesday, May 10. New York has Games 3 and 4 coming up in Miami after tying the series at 1-1 on Tuesday.
It’ll be fitting for Jay Wright to be back at MSG watching three Villanova greats battle it out in the playoffs.
