{"id":704188,"date":"2026-06-14T20:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T20:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/704188\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T20:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T20:49:12","slug":"10-years-later-silver-springs-josh-hart-adds-nba-title-to-ncaa-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/704188\/","title":{"rendered":"10 years later, Silver Spring\u2019s Josh Hart adds NBA title to NCAA championship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hart, considered one of the best \u201cglue guys\u201d in the NBA, played a significant role in the Knicks\u2019 successful season as he capped off with a typical do-a-little-bit-of-everything championship performance.<\/p>\n<p>                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26165087438052-1880x1254.jpg\" alt=\"Josh Hart\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                              New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) celebrates a basket against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Saturday, June 13, 2026, in San Antonio.<br \/>\n(AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin)                            <\/p>\n<p>\n                                AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin                            <\/p>\n<p>                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26165079197258-1880x1254.jpg\" alt=\"Josh Hart\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                              New York Knicks guard Josh Hart moves the ball against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Saturday, June 13, 2026, in San Antonio.<br \/>\n(AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin)                            <\/p>\n<p>\n                                AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin                            <\/p>\n<p>                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26165030041432-1880x1254.jpg\" alt=\"Josh Hart\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                              New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) looks for a call during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the San Antonio Spurs, Saturday, June 13, 2026, in San Antonio.<br \/>\n(AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin)                            <\/p>\n<p>\n                                AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin                            <\/p>\n<p>                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2281472099.jpg\" alt=\"Josh Hart\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                              Josh Hart (3) of the New York Knicks celebrates after the 94-90 victory in Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center on June 13, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas.<br \/>\n(Photo by Gregory Shamus\/Getty Images)                            <\/p>\n<p>\n                                Photo by Gregory Shamus\/Getty Images                            <\/p>\n<p>                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2281473504.jpg\" alt=\"Ernie Johnson Jr. interviews Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                              Ernie Johnson Jr. interviews Josh Hart (3) and Mikal Bridges (25) of the New York Knicks after the victory against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center on June 13, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas.<br \/>\n(Photo by Gregory Shamus\/Getty Images)                            <\/p>\n<p>\n                                Photo by Gregory Shamus\/Getty Images                            <\/p>\n<p>The New York Knicks\u2019 53-year NBA title drought is over, and it was a win clinched with the help of a Montgomery County, Maryland, native: shooting guard Josh Hart.<\/p>\n<p>Hart, considered one of the best \u201cglue guys\u201d in the NBA, played a significant role in the Knicks\u2019 successful season as he capped off with a typical do-a-little-bit-of-everything performance in the Saturday\u2019s winning game.<\/p>\n<p>He played 39 minutes, scoring 13 points and pulling down a team-high of 11 rebounds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI try to put my, my heart out there, I try to do whatever I can do to help the team win,\u201d Hart said at the podium with his twin 3-year-old sons sitting next to him. \u201cI don\u2019t care about points, I don\u2019t care about those things. I\u2019m willing to sacrifice whatever it takes for this city, for this jersey, for this franchise, and to win it, man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hart was born in Silver Spring and his basketball journey started in the Montgomery County Recreation League.<\/p>\n<p>After transferring from Wheaton High School, he was named first team All-Met at Sidwell Friends School in 2013 and later went on to win the NCAA title in 2016 with the Villanova Wildcats. He was also named Big East Player of the Year in 2017.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">He bounced around the NBA with three teams in his first six years in the league before finding a home in New York when he was traded to the Knicks in 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI\u2019ve been doubted so many times. You know, traded, had so much instability with what, seven, eight different head coaches and I found a home in New York and they embraced me for the person that I am, the player that I am,\u201d Hart said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Hart forms one-third of the so-called \u201cNova Knicks,\u201d along with players Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges. The trio, who combined for 72 points scored on Saturday night, led Villanova to an NCAA championship in 2016 and 10 years later, they\u2019re NBA champions after besting the San Antonio Spurs 94-90.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI feel like definitely [former Villanova head] coach [Jay] Wright helped us be cut from a different cloth, and no matter what the moment is, it\u2019s never too big for us,\u201d Hart said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWe\u2019re champions before at the college level. Now we\u2019re champions as brothers at the ultimate level,\u201d Hart said. \u201cAnd those guys, men, they\u2019re warriors and nothing they do surprises me \u2026 I love those guys, and we\u2019re going to be friends and brothers for a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A parade for the Knicks will be held Thursday and could potentially be the largest championship parade in New York City\u2019s storied sports history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis the best feeling, man. We worked so hard for this,\u201d Hart said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to celebrate this one a little bit. I\u2019m going to celebrate with some Patr\u00f3n.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"single-page__signature bottom\">Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up <a href=\"https:\/\/wtop.com\/newsletter-signup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"single-page__signature bottom\">\u00a9 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hart, considered one of the best \u201cglue guys\u201d in the NBA, played a significant role in the Knicks\u2019&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[36783,304280,61628,36784,355,5489,361,304281,9539,99,53659],"class_list":["post-704188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-joe-yasharoff","tag-josh-hart","tag-mikal-bridges","tag-nba","tag-nba-finals","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-sidwell-friends-school","tag-silver-spring","tag-sports","tag-villanova-wildcats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}