Why Josh Hart may ‘burn’ Jalen Brunson shirt after Knicks’ win
Josh Hart had been waiting to unveil some new attire.
But it might be a one-time outfit.
Before and after the Knicks’ 101-97 win over the Cavaliers in Game 1 of their first-round NBA playoff series on Saturday, Hart donned a t-shirt with teammate Jalen Brunson’s face on it.
It featured a portrait of Brunson on Slam Magazine’s cover from the basketball outlet’s March 30 issue.
“I told him, he was on the cover of Slam a couple of weeks ago, so I bought a shirt,” Hart told reporters after the game when asked about the shirt. “I told him I was gonna wear it at some point.”
Although he rebounded from a poor start to finish with a team-high 27 points, the shirt didn’t didn’t have the desired effect for Hart.
Brunson got into early foul trouble, picking up two quick fouls in the first quarter before getting whistled for his third foul just minutes into the second quarter.
It forced Brunson onto the bench for longer than would be ideal.
“He gets in foul trouble the day I wear it so I’m gonna go burn it and never wear it again,” Hart added jokingly.
Sitting next to Hart, whom he was collegiate teammates with at Villanova, Brunson was asked if the shirt embarrassed him at all.
“It’s a handsome photo,” Hart interjected.
“Nah, we’ve been through worse,” Brunson replied.
Hart himself was instrumental in the win, recording 17 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field along with two assists and three rebounds.
Most importantly, with the Knicks trailing 93-92 with just under two minutes left to play, Hart drilled a critical 3-pointer to give the team a 95-93 lead.
The Knicks never trailed the rest of the way.
“He plays to win,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters after the game. “There’s no other agenda other than winning.”
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