Josh Hart exclusive: The hustle behind Team USA's quest for FIBA World Cup glory
On a team littered with NBA stars, Josh Hart doesn't immediately stand out. But dig a little deeper into his stats and keep an eye on the intensity he plays with, and you'll see why he's so vital for the USA's mission for World Cup gold.
Basketball
It's Sunday, 18 June. Father's Day.
New York Knicks small forward Josh Hart is out shopping with his wife, Shannon Philipps. All of a sudden, his phone rings — it's his agents. They're calling to let him know that he's been invited to join Team USA for the upcoming 2023 basketball World Cup. There's just one major issue: Hart and Philipps are brand new parents to twin boys.
"You're going to say no, right?" Shannon told Hart — a perfectly reasonable request, considering their sons were just one month old.
"I looked at her, and said, 'There's no way I can turn it down.'"
A family affair at the World Cup
Hart spoke to us from his hotel room in Malaga, Spain, where Team USA prepared to play a set of warm-up games against Spain and Slovenia ahead of the start of the FIBA World Cup. Obviously, he had managed to work out a deal with his wife to allow him to travel and compete for his country on the international stage for the first time in his career.
"It was a very tense five days where my wife and I were figuring out we can make this work, in terms of me playing for the USA and making sure she was supported," Hart says. "It was a very eventful few days until we figured out how we could make it all work."
But make it work they did.
In fact, Hart has a whole entourage (including his wife and sons, nanny, parents, brother and his brother's fiancee, mother-in-law, and his brother-in-law and his fiancee) who have travelled all the way to both Abu Dhabi (where the USA played their final warm-up games against Greece and Germany) and Manila to not only support him, but also his wife and baby sons.
"Honestly, I really didn't care about who supported me," Hart says. "It was more about how we could support my wife and sons."
What this short annectdote of Hart's journey to the World Cup should show you is how much he loves his family, and much it means to him to represent the USA that he couldn't turn down the opportunity — even as a new father. It's just another example of the passion Hart exudes and the willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed: key attributes that have been on display at the World Cup, and which got him onto the squad in the first place.
Josh Hart #12 of the United States grabs a rebound.
The Hart of USA Basketball
For fans of Hart's, who have followed his career from his collegiate days at Villanova (where he won a national title in 2016) to the NBA, his style of play (which can be characterised as 100 percent hustle at all times) at the World Cup will come as no suprise.
"My game and my style is not always the most glamourous thing," Hart admits. "I feel that it helps impact winning, but it's not always the headline thing.
"I might not score 25 points, but I'll have eight or nine rebounds, six or seven assists, and I bring defensive energy that helps the team win. So sometimes that's not always viewed as highly because it's not the thing that pops out on the box score."
While some fans might not view the intagibles that Hart brings as highly as something as basic as points scored, it is highly valued by NBA coaches and USA Basketball head coach Steve Kerr, who inserted Hart into the starting lineup for the USA's last three World Cup games against Jordan, Montenegro and Lithuania.
In those games Hart only scored a combined 6 points, but led all players on the team with 16 total rebounds (as well as chipping in 5 assists and 3 steals). In fact, Hart, at only 6 ft 4 (1.93m), leads the USA in rebounds per game at the World Cup (6.4) and is third in plus/minus - the total point differential for the time that a specific player is on the court - (13.4) despite playing the sixth-fewest minutes on the team.
These aren't uncommon stats for Hart, who recently signed a four-year contract extension with the New York Knicks. But competing for his country at the World Cup carries extra significance for the 28-year-old.
"[Getting invited to play] for Team USA meant a lot to me, because I grew up watching Team USA competing in the Olympics and the World Cup.
"Being able to see my name on the back of the jersey and competing [for my country] was something I've always wanted to do - it was a dream. So I had to do it!"
While Hart plays with a ferocius intensisty on court, he's know for his good humour and being an exceptional teammate off it as well.
"I just like to have have fun. Especially when I'm off the court, I just like having good vibes, playing, joking around - those kind of things."
The positive chemistry that is clearly apparent on this USA squad is buoyed by the pre-existing relationships that are already present on the squad. Hart, Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson all played at Villanova together, and Brunson and Hart play together with the Knicks. His former New Orleans Pelicans teammate Brandon Ingram is also part of the USA roster.
"It's cool because a lot of us know each other and are friendly with one another. For those that aren't as familiar with each other, it's not a problem because we're all high character guys so we've been able to build that chemistry and camaredeire, and I think that has translated on ot the court."
With the USA suffering just one loss at the World Cup thus far (4-1), it's plainly obvious that the translation from practice to games has been seamless for Hart and co. But he is well aware that he and his teammates can't afford any slip-ups if the USA are to win a first World Cup title since 2014.
"I think there's always pressure with Team USA, but I don't think any of the outside pressure is more intense than the pressure we put on ourselves. We're our biggest critics, and we want to be as close to perfect as we can.
We know the world has caught up. Probably three of the top five or six players in the NBA are European. So obviously they're coming for us. We've got to continue to do what got us here, continue to compete at the highest level, and hopefully bring back the gold.
Ambitions for Paris 2024
Team USA have already secured a quota spot at the men's basketball tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as one of the top two finishers from the Americas at the World Cup (the USA will be joined by Canada in France next year), and while Hart's participation at those Games isn't guaranteed, he admits that competing at Paris 2024 is a bucket list item for him.
"The Olympics is the main stage, so having that opportunity is really a bucket list kind of thing. It's something that you strive to do.
"When you play basketball you want to win an NBA Finals, but you also want to play for your respective country and compete at the highest level against not just NBA guys, but everyone in the world."
For now, Hart has plenty on his plate to focus on as the USA prepare to face Italy in the World Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday (5 September). Perhaps in a year's time from now, Hart, his wife and twin boys will be in Paris for a new adventure: pursuing Olympic gold.