Jalen Brunson believes the former Villanova University coach has the ability to make the jump to the NBA, but he’s not sure Jay Wright would actually enjoy the job.
“That would be different,” Branson told Wright on his podcast, “The Roommates Show.”
“It would be completely different. I feel like in college, you’re kind of teaching young guys how to be players, how to be young guys. At least, that was the case at Nova. In the league, I feel like you’re just playing chess, putting the pieces in place, seeing what works, what doesn’t. So it would have been a little different. I’m sure you could do it. I just don’t know if you want to do it.”
Wright, 62, who hasn’t coached since leaving Villanova University two years ago, acknowledged he had considered the NBA and interviewed with the Sixers in 2009.
He also served as an assistant to Gregg Popovich at the 2021 Olympics, giving him the opportunity to experience the best version of the NBA.
“We had great players, so it was a perfect situation to coach them, and then I realized going into the NBA it was going to be a little different because you don’t have everybody on one team,” Wright said. “And I felt like I got a taste of the NBA, and I really enjoyed it. I loved it. But at the end of my college career, I didn’t feel like I had the tools to make the jump to the NBA, so I gave it some thought.”
Wright led a team that included current Knicks starters Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo to NCAA titles in 2016 and 2018.
He left just as new NIL rules were transforming college basketball, and was replaced by Kyle Neptune, who failed to reach the NCAA Tournament in his first two seasons.
