In 2nd stint as teammates, Knicks’ Villanova nucleus enjoying career year: ‘If you don’t like the way those three guys play, then you don’t like basketball’

Josh Hart remembers the moment his new reality set in.

It was the first day Hart, Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo — three college teammates at Villanova whose careers intertwined at the pro level — started as teammates for the Knicks, a Nov. 17 In-Season Tournament matchup at the Washington Wizards’ Capital One Arena.

The arena’s public address announcer begrudgingly worked his way through the Knicks’ starting lineup.

By the time he got to the third former Wildcat, he had run out of patience.

“And the last one was ‘and also from Villanova,’” Hart recalled after shootaround at the Tarrytown training facility on Tuesday morning. “That was really dope. I thought about it then, and this is really dope. I haven’t thought about it too much after. I will probably start thinking about it this summer.”

Rarely if ever in NBA history will you find three college basketball teammates who reunite — let alone start — at the next level.

In football, it’s more common in the NFL given it’s a 53-man roster spread across 32 professional teams.

In the NBA, there are only five starters and 13 guaranteed roster spots.

It’s why even though Hart, DiVincenzo and Brunson were able to lead the Wildcats to an NCAA Championship in 2016, they never allowed themselves to think about doing the same — as a trio — in the NBA.

“We knew the realistic possibility of [becoming NBA teammates was] very slim,” said Hart. “So, we don’t really talk about it. [We] still don’t talk about it now. I think it’s something that down the road we will say that’s really dope. But right now we can’t think about that. Once we start thinking about that, we start getting happy or complacent — and that’s when slippage happens.”

Yet their bond is apparent in the way they play, and it’s been the nucleus for a Knicks team battered by injury this season.

Brunson went 33rd overall to the Dallas Mavericks in 2018. Hart went 30th overall to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017. DiVincenzo went 13 picks earlier at No. 17 to the Milwaukee Bucks

All roads for the Villanova trio led to Madison Square Garden.

“First of all, the college game and the pro game are two different animals. They played together a long time ago. So the advantage is they know each other personally,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said on Tuesday. “But I think the fact that they were on different teams for their entire pro career until now, that’s the challenge, when you come together is to be ready to play. How quickly can you adapt and learn each other. It’s also your teammates, the other guys who are involved with you. So it’s a whole group working together.”

It took a little bit of luck.

Brunson, for example, could have still been a Dallas Maverick had the organization had the foresight to know such an ascent to All-Stardom was on the table.

The Mavericks opted against offering Brunson a deal commensurate with his production, and he left Dallas to sign with the Knicks in the summer of 2022.

Little did he know he would soon end up teammates with one of his old running mates at Villanova.

Months into Brunson’s Knicks tenure, the team traded Cam Reddish, Ryan Arcidiacono, Sri Mykhailiuk and a first-round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers for Hart, who had played for three different teams (the Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans and Trail Blazers) before landing in New York.

And DiVincenzo spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Bucks, who won an NBA title on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s shoulders in 2021.

The following year, DiVincenzo found himself in a mid-season trade to the Sacramento Kings. He then signed a two-year deal with the Golden State Warriors, then opted out of the final year of his contract to sign a four-year, $50 million contract with the Knicks last summer.

In the blink of an eye, life brought three former Wildcat teammates together for another deep run at a different kind of title.

“It’s cool. It’s something you don’t really see in the NBA,” Brunson said at Tuesday morning shoot around in Tarrytown. “And to be out there with guys I used to work really hard with, fight with, be really annoyed with, all that stuff for a couple years. To see where we are now, to see our growth, it’s really cool. It’s really cool, and it’s something I cherish.”

Not only are they teammates once again, and not only are they starters once again, but Brunson, DiVincenzo and Hart are thriving in their second go-round as running mates.

Brunson is having a career year and earned his first-ever All-Star nod. DiVincenzo was bumped into the starting two-guard spot and is enjoying a career year both scoring and shooting the three ball

And Hart has become the heartbeat of the Knicks. He’s a rebounding machine and a secondary playmaker who the Knicks regularly run offense through.

“They play great, man,” 76ers head coach Nick Nurse said ahead of tipoff in Game 5 on Tuesday. “If you don’t like the way those three guys play, then you don’t like basketball. They play great, they play hard, they play smart — and they do look like they’ve played together a little bit, yeah.”