When Knicks point guard Jalen Bronson was asked if Josh Hart had changed much in the eight years they’d known each other, he feigned exasperation and quickly said no. Then a small smile crept onto his face.
“He’s still two years old,” Bronson said. “He loves sweets. It’s like – he’s older than me – it’s like having a little brother.”
This was all news to Hart, also a Knicks guard, who responded that Bronson, too, hasn’t changed a bit since college.
“It’s a kid, that’s what it is,” said Hart. “It’s the child. I’m like the parent.”
The playful ribbing belies the relationship that was nurtured at Villanova and remained strong despite the two taking divergent paths in the NBA.
Bronson, 26, was a freshman at Villanova in 2015-16 when Hart, 28, was a junior and together they won the NCAA Championship. Hart made it to the NBA a year later as a first-round pick for the Lakers in a one-day deal with the Jazz. The following year, it was Bronson’s turn: The Mavericks drafted him in the second round. While Bronson spent the next four years in Dallas, Hart played on three different teams.
This year, Bronson joined the Knicks in free agency and blossomed into a superstar who helped move the team to its best record since 2013. Hart arrived in February on a trade from Portland and led to a bench press that helped the Knicks finish the season with optimism despite being plagued by injuries.
Hart and Bronson will have different but very important roles for the Knicks, the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, as they prepare for their first-round game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which begins Saturday.
“I think they have a mutual respect for each other just because they are competitive killers,” said Villanova men’s basketball coach Kyle Neptune, who was an assistant coach on the team from 2013 to 2021. A sense of humanity, a sense of purpose, and being a good human being. But then when you put them down, they’re just absolute killers.”
The ways that Hart and Bronson excelled with the Knicks reflect who they were as players in college.
Bronson was able to get on well with his teammates at the time as well.
“His ability to adapt to new people is partly because he’s the son of a player-coach who navigated like a military family,” said Baker Dunleavy, who was an assistant coach for Villanova from 2010 to 2017.
He remembered Bronson having a sense of professionalism early on that was rare for someone his age.
But, as he did in his NBA career, Bronson had to wait before he could own a Villanova locker room. Jay Wright, the former longtime head coach of Villanova, recalled his sense that Bronson was a little uncomfortable in his first year and that it hindered some of his leadership ability because the team already had a point guard—Ryan Arcidiocono, who was a senior at the time. The following year, Bronson seemed more comfortable taking a lead role.
“A natural leader and someone everyone would love to rely on,” Wright said.
Hart was named Most Valuable Player of the Big East Tournament during his sophomore year, and was a Third Team All-American his junior year. He sometimes shocked his coaches with the audacity of the shots he took, but they happily accepted the results.
Wright recounted many examples of Hart making big plays in high-pressure situations: regular season games against top-tier opponents, pivotal Big East tournament games and NCAA tournament games.
“I kind of knew this guy had nothing to fear,” said Wright.
And he loved sweets. Once, during a stop at one of Hart’s high school practices, Dunleavy saw Hart reach into a sock, pull out a bag of sour candy and turn the bag over until a few pieces fell into his mouth as if he was taking a sip of Gatorade.
Wright said Villanova stressed the importance of good nutrition for their players, but he was sure Hart had found a way to hide the candy in the locker room.
He said “don’t get me started”.
Wright described Hart as being more relaxed than Bronson, and Bronson as more mature.
Bronson spent his first four seasons with the Mavericks. He joined the Knicks as a valuable free agent last summer, about a month after the team hired his father, Rick Bronson, who had worked with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau before as an assistant coach.
The Knicks were sanctioned a second round draft pick in 2025 to initiate free agent discussions with Bronson before being allowed by the league.
Bronson was a rookie in Dallas, who played alongside Luka Doncic, but he thrived on being more prominent with the Knicks. His scoring rate per game has risen to 24 this season from 16.3 last season, and he is providing 6.2 assists per game compared to 4.8 last season.
Part of what made him fit so well with the Knicks is the combination of humility and confidence with which he plays and leads.
“He’s an honest leader,” said Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. “He knows when he’s right and when he’s wrong, so he’s not afraid to admit things like that. And you kind of need that.”
Robinson said Bronson texted him last summer to join him in New York for off-season workouts. He had not known Bronson before this, but they soon developed an old friends relationship.
Hart made an impact on his teams through his versatility on defense and in tight play – rebounding and chasing loose balls. He was traded twice before arriving in New York, first to the Pelicans as part of the deal that sent Anthony Davis to the Lakers, and then to Portland.
For most of this season, Hart has enjoyed Bronson’s success from afar.
“I think he kind of exceeded everyone’s expectations but his own,” Hart said, adding, “For me that’s great because I’ve seen all the work he’s put in to get to that level.”
On February 8, their paths converged.
Bronson was at Villanova for a college jersey retirement party. Someone brought him the news over the phone that the Knicks had traded for Hart. Bronson shouted an expletive and then said “Yeah!” He raises his arms in triumph. The people around him started to applaud.
“Like his older brother was coming back from college or something,” Wright said. “He was so excited. It was real, you know. After he saw it, he still walked around like: ‘I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe we got Josh. I’m so excited we got Josh. He didn’t stop all night'” .
Hart, who retired from Villanova in 2022, had just spoken with Bronson that morning.
“Obviously, neither of us had any idea that was going to happen,” Hart said. “I texted him about congratulations on retiring the jersey. And he didn’t actually say thank you.”
In New York, Hart acclimatized immediately. He now makes better than 50 percent of his 3-point attempts, while in Portland he only made a third. His tally went up, though his minutes were lost. The Knicks went on a nine-game winning streak starting with the first game Hart played for them.
“I think his game can fit well anywhere because of all the things he does,” said Thibodeau. He added, “There’s no agenda but to win. If you’re open, he beats you. If we need a big chance. He’s what I call a playmaker. Whatever the game needs.”
Now, Hart and Bronson often hold post-match interview sessions together, exchanging questions if one of them falters. They sit together on the team plane and, according to Robinson, tell inside jokes that their teammates don’t get. Together, they will try to help this Knicks team become the first team to win a playoff series in a decade.