Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, and Josh Hart first met at Villanova, where they began to succeed in the national spotlight. Little did they know they would become three of the major driving forces to revive the NBA’s biggest market.
The New York Knicks have re-invented themselves over the last few years, going from NBA fans’ favorite joke to a team that might win the NBA Finals in the next few years. One can attribute this to a few different things, but mainly the hiring of Leon Rose and his signing of Jalen Brunson, arguably the best Knick that New Yorkers have seen since Patrick Ewing first graced Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of Basketball, for the first time in 1985.
Brunson and DiVincenzo became friends very quickly. Entering ‘Nova the same year in 2015, the pair were introduced as college roommates and became as close as brothers almost instantly.
“Within a week, boom, we were on the same schedule,” DiVincenzo says. “If he stayed up late, I stayed up late. If we had a late-night pizza, we ate it together and got rid of it before the morning.” The two were your classic “random roommate” success story, except for one detail. Within around 8 months of being roommates and college students, Brunson and DiVincenzo, along with Josh Hart and the rest of the Villanova team, were NCAA Champions.
Before 2016, the older classmen such as Hart, and fourth Villanova-turned-Knicks teammate Ryan Arcidiacono, were frustrated with their early NCAA March Madness tournament losses. Was it this pair of freshman roommates who changed everything? Of course not, but their blood-thirsty hunt for success was an attributing factor.
Then-head coach Jay Wright was not playing around in practice. The practices were physical, and Wright was trying to build these players into mentally tough men. Brunson and DiVincenzo would laugh about these practices back in their room, maybe over late-night pizza, a favorite of theirs.
Up to this point, Brunson and DiVincenzo’s friendship was this dynamic duo, but an annoying junior eventually invaded their brotherhood. Josh Hart was Brunson and DiVincenzo’s favorite pain in the neck, and in some ways, he still is.
Hart is the ultimate teammate. He wants his teammates not to be sensitive and wants them to win as badly as he does. If they do not, he will use his greatest gift, his infectious mentality. This helped Brunson, DiVincenzo, and Mikal Bridges, the next generation in 2016, win another NCAA Championship in 2018.
Fast forward 4 years and Jalen Brunson is a Dallas Maverick, DiVincenzo is on the Milwaukee Bucks, and Josh Hart is part of a trade that will send him to New Orleans in exchange for the Lakers to acquire superstar Anthony Davis who would ultimately help Lebron James win his fourth NBA championship. The three are still friends, while other teammates such as Bridges and Ryan Arcidiacono have found themselves on the Phoenix Suns and Chicago Bulls respectively.
Fast forward another four years and Brunson, DiVincenzo, and Hart are back as teammates. On a New York Knicks team that was starving for success, Brunson signed a 4-year contract that was once viewed as an overpay in the summer of 2022. Brunson has flipped the narrative and is widely regarded as one of the best players in the NBA now. Josh Hart was traded to New York six months after Brunson’s arrival, sparking quite an excited reaction. Divincenzo decided to join in on the fun in the summer of 2023, signing a 4-year deal, and exceeding all expectations like his former roommate.
The Knicks now find themselves facing off against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs, with the Knicks sitting as the second seed. They are bringing success as hard-working underdogs once again, something that Knicks fans have longed for since what feels like the dawn of time. Without star Julius Randle, the three have had to step up.
The Knicks are expected to succeed in the playoffs for the first time in a long time, getting pegged as the second-best team in the Eastern Conference outside of the powerhouse Boston Celtics.
Brunson and Hart now tell their war stories on their podcast “The Roommates Show.” The Knicks have become close-knit through Brunson’s leadership and Hart and DiVincenzo being the best teammates anyone could ask for. They have revived the Knicks, and knowing these guys, it’s hard to imagine that anything other than an NBA Championship will be considered a success for them.
