Old Friends. New Team. Same Knicks Championship Dream.

Wright recounted several examples of Hart making big plays in high-pressure situations: regular-season games against top-ranked opponents, pivotal Big East tournament matchups and N.C.A.A. tournament games.

“You just kind of knew this guy fears nothing,” Wright said.

And he did love candy. Once, during a pause in one of Hart’s high school practices, Dunleavy saw Hart reach into a sock, pull out a bag of sour candy and tilt the bag so a few pieces fell into his mouth as if he was taking a sip of Gatorade.

Villanova stressed the importance of good nutrition for their players, Wright said, but he was sure Hart found a way to hide candy in the locker room.

“Don’t even get me started,” he said.

Wright described Hart as more carefree than Brunson, and Brunson as a little more mature.

Brunson spent his first four seasons with the Mavericks. He joined the Knicks as a prized free agent last summer, about a month after the team hired his father, Rick Brunson, who had worked with Knicks Coach Tom Thibodeau before as an assistant coach.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/sports/basketball/knicks-playoffs-jalen-brunson.html