After years away from the game, NBC looks to reclaim its place in the NBA landscape, a move that likely spells doom for the NBA on TNT and the end of “Inside the NBA” with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal, a celebrated entity more so for its balance of personalities and entertainment value than its cutting-edge basketball analysis.
For their coverage of this past year’s Western Conference finals, Ernie and Co. called on Draymond Green to join their ranks, whereby the Warrior “enforcer” did more to convey his edge and chippiness (he truly got to play up his rivalry with Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert) rather than keenly report on the events of each Mavericks and Timberwolves matchup.
Similarly, for their coverage of the NBA Finals, ESPN and ABC went in a different, more unconventional route, installing the Knicks’ Josh Hart as part of their pregame, halftime, and post-game slate.
The choice seemed odd, considering what little experience Hart had in the “talking head” role beyond his podcast with Jalen Brunson, “The Roommates Show,” which premiered earlier this year. Admittedly slow at the start, the podcast grew beyond a free-flowing conversation amongst friends and former college teammates to a must-listen series that recently hosted Knicks legend Patrick Ewing and will bring aboard Coach Tom Thibodeau during the week of June 10.
Like his brand of basketball on the floor, the success of The Roommates Show has much to do with Josh Hart’s place on the panel. Given his grit and voice, Hart has expanded his brand while firmly affirming his place in New York, a place he now considers “home.”
For the cost of Cam Reddish and a first-round pick at the 2023 trade deadline, the Knicks landed Josh Hart, his fourth team in six years, much to the delight of Villanova running mate Jalen Brunson, who applauded the deal on the eve his number was being retired by the university.
Hart’s impact in New York was felt immediately.
With his 17-point, 10-rebound effort in Game 1 against Cleveland in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs, including a dagger three that gave New York the lead late in the game, Hart pronounced himself a postseason hero, feats he would replicate in the 2024 playoffs, including a late three in Game 6 against the Sixers to help seal the series-clinching win for the Knicks, posting triple-doubles, stunning rebound figures, and refusing to be taken out of the game until an abdominal strain became too much to manage against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Because of Julius Randle’s absence, Hart often had to play power forward minutes, a grind to match his blue-collar intensity and moxie in big moments. Without question, he has more than earned his contract extension—a no-brainer last offseason—and his rights to the number 3 jersey, previously worn by the hard-nosed John Starks and a star with mixed results in New York, Stephon Marbury.
Though Hart remains a much-needed commodity on the Knicks roster, he has a voice worthy of airtime, a likely career after his playing tenure, and an ability to blend in with veteran voices like Stephen A. Smith, Bob Myers, and Malika Andrews, offering analysis free of any agenda, schtick, or nonsense.
