Villanova Knicks: ‘Brothers For a Lifetime’ Break Down Championship Win

Villanova Knicks Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges helped New York end a 53-year title drought on Saturday, June 13, defeating the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 to claim the NBA Finals in five games.

Brunson and Bridges won the 2016 and 2018 National Championships at Villanova under head coach Jay Wright; Josh Hart, two years older than the other two, played a major role in the 2016 team. After the win, Brunson described what it meant to win alongside his longtime friends.

“It’s a great feeling. It’s truly a great feeling. Knowing that I got to meet them at a young age and we were able to grow as friends, as teammates in college, and be able to achieve something in college,” Brunson said. “And then to be able to do this at this level is just as special, maybe a little more special.”

Hart, for his part, described Brunson and Bridges as his “brothers for a lifetime.”

Brothers for a Lifetime

Hart also gave Wright a shoutout for the attitude he taught them during their time on the Main Line.

“For JB and ‘Kal, both of them, I’m never shocked at what they do, because we’ve been built for this moment. We’ve [all been] forged in fire We’ve had a lot of long moments and times and days at Nova, and we just continued to build and build and build,” Hart said.

“Coach Wright helped us be cut from a different cloth. No matter what the moment is, it’s never too big for us. That’s what we do, we were champions before at the college level, now we’re champions as brothers at the ultimate level. Those guys are warriors and nothing they do surprises me.”

Brunson won the Bill Russell Finals MVP award, averaging 32.6 points per game in the championship series; he scored 45 points in the decisive Game 5, helping the Knicks erase a 16-point deficit. After the final buzzer, a visibly emotional Brunson said that it was Hart, his best friend and roommate at Villanova, who brought him to tears.

“I remember Josh talking in my ear, him saying ‘we did it, we did it’ and then I was emotional for a good five, ten minutes,” Brunson said. “Then the excitement started to kick in.”

Despite his status as a five-star recruit in high school, the Wooden Award winner at Villanova and a three-time NBA All-Star, Brunson calling himself an underdog isn’t a gimmick. At 6-foot-2, he’s undersized for an NBA guard, especially without outstanding athleticism to level the playing field.

Not Your Average Underdog Gimmick

His Game 5 performance made him one of just four players in NBA history to score 45 points in a closeout game but Brunson, always singularly-focused, said he wouldn’t use the opportunity as vindication against his doubters.

“I didn’t respond to them then,” Brunson said. “And I damn sure am not gonna respond to them now.”

Brunson said that watching his father Rick’s experience in the NBA helped him develop his own stone-cold mentality. Rick Brunson had to battle for a contract year after year as a fringe NBA-caliber player, giving his son a legitimate example of hard work under pressure. Seeing his dad take training camp deals on the other side of the country from his family marked a level of sacrifice that he’s never had to deal with.

“I’m just never afraid to fail,” Brunson said.

Hart, similarly, makes many of his contributions for the Knicks away from the stat sheet, which can lead to criticism when New York starts to struggle. He said he tries to make up for his imperfections as a player through the effort he shows on the court.

“I’ve been doubted so many times, traded, had so much instability — seven, eight different head coaches. I found a home in New York. They embraced me for the person that I am, the player that I am,” Hart said. “I’m not perfect by any means, I make a lot of mistakes, but I try to put my heart out there, I try to do whatever I can do to help the team win. I don’t care about points, I don’t care about those things, I’m willing to sacrifice whatever it takes for this city, for this jersey, for this franchise.”