Villanova’s Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart explain ‘Nova Knicks origin story on Late Night with Seth Myers
Brunson and Hart joined Meyers to discuss The Roommates Podcast and the moment after Mikal Bridges was traded to the Knicks.
The ’Nova Knicks are all the rage in New York and Philly, as teammates at Madison Square Garden and bringers of nostalgia for Villanova faithful as they gather fans along the East Coast.
Their success is a feel-good story that keeps getting better. It started with Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson, the creators of The Roommates podcast who recently appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers. They later were joined by Donte DiVincenzo and Mikal Bridges.
Meyers asked the former Villanova stars, who won two titles together on the Main Line, what their first impressions of each other were. As anyone who has watched or listened to the podcast would expect, hilarity ensued.
» READ MORE: The ‘Nova Knicks’ next big challenge: Great expectations with the addition of Mikal Bridges
“Didn’t like him,” Hart said. “Moreso because of his dad, and I told his dad this. Great person, wants to put on the hard outer shell first. I was like, ‘I hate this guy.’ And then I hung out with him and I was like, ‘I got to kind of like him.’ And he went to ’Nova, and that was it from there.”
While Hart’s story sounded more like a meet cute, Brunson painted a more sinister story.
“Josh was the team bully,” Brunson said. “He bullied me. During practice, he threw me into a door and threw the ball at me, got in a fight with Mikal [Bridges] and Donte [DiVincenzo] at separate times during practice, [in the] weight room. So he was a team bully for sure.”
Brunson and Hart also explained what it was like when Bridges joined the team in a trade this offseason, officially bringing all four players together. Brunson started a four-person FaceTime, and only Bridges answered initially. Hart finally called back, and then everyone joined the call.
While they keep it light and throw jabs at each other, the Villanova group in New York realizes how surreal it is to be teammates as NBA players. Meyers asked if they ever imagined it would work out like this.
» READ MORE: Villanova’s Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart take Roommates Show to Central Park, flex transformation of Knicks
“Nah, I can’t really because you never really think about it,” Hart said. “You’re in college, everyone wants to play in the league, and everyone kind of has their own journey. So it’s something you mention once or twice, ‘Oh, this would be so cool.’ But now that it’s happened, it’s a special moment.”