Some Philly fans on social media were in an uproar after the Villanova basketball account on X posted a congratulatory tweet praising “our guys” Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo for nailing “two HUGE 3s to seal the Win in Game 2” for the Knicks.
Josh Hart, a teammate of those players on Villanova’s 2016 NCAA championship team and now with the Knicks, called anyone angered over that message — construed as a diss to the hometown 76ers — “idiotic.”
“Why? That’s so stupid. Villanova’s in our blood, bro,” Hart said after Wednesday’s Knicks practice in Tarrytown. “That’s a bond that goes deeper than where you’re from or who you’re rooting for or whatever. Like, we have a bond there that goes beyond basketball, that goes beyond any of that stuff.
“So for Philly fans to be mad about that, I think that’s idiotic. That’s who we are. We’re a family. We played for the ones that come before us there, and that’s how it is there. So I don’t care about it. I think it’s idiotic that Philly fans are mad about it. Because whether they like it or not, Villanova’s in our blood.”
The Knicks are 2-0 in the first-round series, which shifts to Philly for Game 3 and 4 on Thursday and Sunday, respectively.
Villanova is actually located about 25 miles outside of Philadelphia.
When informed of the anger of the Philly fans about the Villanova program’s post, Brunson at first responded that “I don’t even know what to say to that.”
But the two-time NCAA champ then added this zinger: “In their eyes, we’re not a Philly school, but when we win, apparently we are a Philly school.”