Josh Hart has made no secret of his hope that one day he’ll be playing for his fellow Villanova Wildcats in orange and blue.
Now it’s reality.
The Knicks shocked the entire NBA on Tuesday night when they completed a blockbuster trade, acquiring Nets guard Mikal Bridges in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic and multiple draft picks.
But Hart, who was on the 2016 Villanova team that won a national title with Bridges, Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo, appears to have been preparing to welcome his friend to the Knicks for quite some time.
On July 1 of last year, Hart not-so-reservedly recruited Bridges in an X post.
“Yo Follow “Call me on my cell phone,” Hart wrote.
Then in September, Hart posted a follow-up.
“Yo Follow “Phone rang. I just needed to discuss something,” he posted.
In February, Hart and Brunson invited Bridges onto their podcast, “The Roommates Show,” and while Bridges was answering questions, Hart removed his white hoodie to reveal a Knicks shirt, drawing laughter from the entire audience.
Bridges actually turned the courtship storyline around after Hart posted an Instagram post about his appearance on ESPN’s NBA Finals broadcast two weeks ago.
“Coming to the Nets?” Bridges said.
Hart, however, was not happy with that.
“@mikalbridges are you OK,” Hart replied. “If you’re being held hostage, all you have to do is blink and I’ll help you.”
On Tuesday night, it all came back together, with Hart recalling his 2023 X post.
“Heyyyy Follow “Finally hit my line!!!!!” he wrote.
Heat star Bam Adebayo accused Hart and Brunson of “cheating,” but Hart wasn’t buying it at all.
“Let’s celebrate in peace!” Hart wrote, adding a crying-laughing emoji.
And they appeared to celebrate on Tuesday night with a video chat that included Hart, Bridges, DiVincenzo and Brunson.
