Josh Hart is often mentioned as the type of gritty player who would have fit in perfectly with the tenacious Knicks teams of the 1990s, beloved squads that reached the NBA Finals in 1994 and 1999.
Hart, whose versatile performance helped lift the Knicks to a playoff-opening victory Saturday over the 76ers, has heard that, too.
And he certainly takes it as a compliment, especially from former players within the organization from that era.
“When I see [former Knicks guard] John Starks, he always mentions it, the toughness and method they had, that the city has and this team has, myself included,” Hart said after practice Sunday in Tarrytown.
“For me, that’s a huge accomplishment.
“That’s what I feel like — this city, the team, this franchise, especially with Thibs [Tom Thibodeau] and [team president] Leon [Rose] and Wes [Senior VP William Wesley] — that’s what we’re building.”
The fans at Madison Square Garden certainly have reciprocated their affection towards Hart practically from the moment he arrived as a trade-deadline pickup from Portland in February of last year.
They collectively and vocally embraced the former Villanova star again Saturday after the do-it-all wing scored 13 of his 22 points — including three key 3-pointers — in the fourth quarter and grabbed 13 rebounds in the Game 1 victory.
The 29-year-old Hart even admitted to engaging with the MSG crowd — and shouting expletives along with the fans — as the Knicks closed out the win.
“For me, really, [New York] fits my game. I’m someone who’s just a regular person, who goes out there and plays the game extremely hard, extremely passionate, and just resilient. I think that’s the biggest thing,” Hart said. “I think that’s what this city is, in general. That’s just how I feel like I am.
“I’m going to bring the energy, I’m going to bring the passion, toughness and if I get knocked down, I’m going to pick myself up. Sometimes I might have to have my teammates pick me up. But that’s just my mentality.”
Hart also defended the team’s celebrity row contingent, a few days after Sixers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. had taken shots at those famous folks seated courtside as people that “don’t care about the game.”
“Those are guys who are lifelong Knicks fans,” countered Hart, who often interacts with comedian and actor Tracy Morgan, among others. “All of them talk about being in the nosebleeds when they were kids, scalping tickets and now they’re [getting] $100,000 seats.
“But for sure, it’s cool, because you see the passion that they have. It’s not just like they’re on the court kind of having fun, wanting to be seen. They’re really passionate fans.”
Hart played the first two seasons of his NBA career with the Lakers and thought their celebrity section also “was cool.” But he believes the difference in New York is “you’ve got all these guys that are passionate about the city and passionate about the team.”
“When I talk to all of them, some of them, I’ll be more star-struck, but with them, they love talking to us,” Hart added. “They get to know us. It’s really dope because some of them are our childhood idols and they’re showing us love, so it’s really cool.”
Hart signed a four-year contract extension worth $81 million last summer, and his embrace of New York is further exemplified by the “NY” he had braided into his hair to start the postseason for a second straight year.
“I’m not superstitious, but I’m a little ’stitious,’” Hart quipped, quoting a famous line by the Michael Scott character from the sitcom “The Office.”
Thus, just like last year, Hart flew up a popular hair designer who goes by the Instagram handle @SandrasBraids from Houston to execute his postseason look.
“She did it for me last year and she’s like one of the hair braiders that’s the GOAT,” Hart said. “[Former NBA player] Gerald Green, she did all of his when he was doing his dope hairstyles.
“I always knew when we got to the playoffs, I’m going to have to fly her up, do the ‘NY’ again. It’s been thought about for a while. I just wanted to make sure it was the right time to do it.”
