The New York Knicks were a bad NBA team, so they became a college one
The New York Knicks have the Philadelphia 76ers on the ropes in their NBA Playoffs series. They have a Philly-area university to thank for it, writes ROBERT O’CONNELL.
Putting together an NBA team is tricky business. The New York Knicks spent years mixing and matching in pursuit of a winning blend, only to fall flat on their faces again and again. Then the Knicks tried something different.
They simply looked at one of the most dominant champions in the recent history of college basketball and said, We’ll take those guys.
In key ways, the Knicks are simply a reprise of the Villanova Wildcats, a team that cruised to two national titles in three seasons. And now the 2024 Knicks, a No. 2 seed in the playoffs, lead the Philadelphia 76ers two games to none in their first-round series. Their star was the leader of the 2018 Villanova champions, the burly point guard Jalen Brunson. New York’s top 3-point shooter is the Wildcats’ old marksman, Donte DiVincenzo.
The Knicks’ soul and hustle, meanwhile, comes from Josh Hart, the do-everything guard who helped pace Villanova to the 2016 title.
And the three former Wildcats were impossible to miss late in the Knicks’ come-from-behind win in Monday’s Game 2, when 3-pointers from Brunson and DiVincenzo — either side of a Hart steal — turned the tide.
“Every now and then I think about all of us back at school, competing in practice, getting after it, having little mini-fights,” Brunson said in January. “To see where we are now, it’s really special.”
If having a nightly college reunion in the Knicks’ starting line-up is a great time for the trio, it causes more complicated feelings in Villanova fans. The university is located in a Philadelphia suburb that falls squarely on Sixers turf.
Tom Leibig, a former backup forward with the Wildcats who now works for a financial firm in Philadelphia, has an even tougher dilemma than most. He grew up a diehard Sixers fan, which means that following his heart this playoff season involves betraying his old loyalties.
“When you see your college friends out there, it’s hard not to root for them, so as much as it pains me to say it, I’m 100% on board with the Knicks right now,” Leibig said. “My friends are all Philly fans, and they hate watching the games with me.”
It is rare for college teammates to find success together in the pros, but it is even more remarkable the way the “Nova Knicks” linked up, one bit of happenstance at a time. Brunson arrived ahead of last season, after New York signed him away from the Dallas Mavericks in free agency, and immediately turned into a star. He scampered behind the arc for long-range shots and danced his way past defenders almost a foot taller than him.
But Brunson, just 6-foot-2, needed a bigger backcourt teammate, so New York traded for Hart, a tough defender and ferocious rebounder, midway through last year. Then last off-season, the team needed an influx of shooting. Enter DiVincenzo, who this season made the third-most 3-pointers in the entire NBA.
Under former head coach Jay Wright, Villanova developed a reputation for training ready, steady professionals — just the type of hardworking grinders Knicks fans and coach Tom Thibodeau adore. As New York has ascended in the Eastern Conference, winning 50 games for the first time in more than a decade, Brunson said that Thibodeau routinely picks his brain about his Wildcats experience.
“Constantly, constantly he talks to me about Villanova,” Brunson said. “To the point where I think he wishes he went there.”
On the court, the trio of Wildcats has the Knicks humming. In Game 1 against Philadelphia, Brunson and Hart led the team with 22 points apiece, while DiVincenzo laced a pair of 3-pointers. In Game 2, they combined for 64 more points.
Off the floor, it’s been entertaining as well. Brunson and Hart have launched a podcast, “Roommates Show,” that welcomed DiVincenzo as a guest for an episode. The show features the kind of good-natured ribbing common among old college pals — except that these friends are currently working together to bounce the reigning NBA MVP from the playoffs.
“Jalen is just one of those dudes who just pops up in your life and never goes anywhere,” DiVincenzo said in his appearance.
“Yeah, you don’t know how he got there,” Hart agreed. “He just got there.”
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For their former teammate Leibig, the problem presented by their playoff run against his hometown team has led him to the only obvious solution. He needs to make himself scarce.
“Especially if they have a couple drinks in them, you don’t want to mess with Philly sports fans,” Leibig said. “So I think I’m going to make the smart decision and watch the next few games by myself.”
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