ON THEIR FIRST day at Villanova, Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo shook arms and unpacked all of their belongings. Then they sat down on their beds 5 toes other than one another and began speaking. This may be their new life for the following 12 months.
Within the fall of 2015, Villanova’s two largest recruits can be residing collectively as freshmen, in a single dorm room, a brief soar shot aside. Instantly, DiVincenzo had a realization that so many younger adults really feel once they transfer away from house for the primary time: Oh crap, I’ve by no means lived with anyone earlier than.
Brunson was in the identical boat. Sleeping in the identical room, sharing the distant, not taking on an excessive amount of house within the mini-fridge — this was roommate boot camp for each of them. They did not actually know one another a lot earlier than that day. However they hit it off straight away. Brunson has a straight-faced, robust exterior that hides humorousness, and DiVincenzo is a unfastened, talkative and constructive vibes man with a feistiness beneath. In some ways, Brunson’s inside is DiVincenzo’s exterior, and vice versa.
“Inside per week, growth, we had been on the identical schedule,” DiVincenzo says. “If he stayed up late, I stayed up late. If we had a late-night pizza, we ate it collectively and removed it earlier than the morning.”
On their very own, they got here up with one rule they constructed their roommate life round: When you’re not soiled, I am not soiled. Neither one in all them considers himself a conventional clear freak. However out of respect for the opposite, they labored as a staff to ensure their room was as clear as 18-year-olds are able to. “The room by no means obtained soiled,” DiVincenzo says.
By the point preseason observe started, the 2 newcomers had been already quick mates. Villanova had veterans at each place and Closing 4-level expectations, so the 2 went by means of a bumpy initiation interval on a loaded roster. That 2015-16 Villanova staff had Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, Ryan Arcidiacono, Kris Jenkins and Phil Sales space, and people guys had been fed up with this system’s current string of getting bounced within the first weekend of NCAAs. The Nova stars had been pondering nationwide title, not easy methods to produce the softest touchdown for the rookies.
Virtually instantly, Brunson and DiVincenzo established themselves as gifted sufficient to contribute as freshmen. Brunson particularly confirmed a quiet fury in observe that generated fairly a number of wide-eyed nods between vets that he was going to assist straight away, particularly as a spark plug playmaking guard. And coaches marveled on the manner DiVincenzo might get on a heater in observe and be the most effective participant on the courtroom for a half-hour.
Villanova practices had been robust, although. Most days Brunson and DiVincenzo would come house and giggle collectively of their dorm room about how bruising and bodily their afternoon had been. They’d return by means of the earlier observe and discuss out moments once they took their lumps. Virtually each upperclassman and coach ended up making an look in these conversations.
However Brunson and DiVincenzo often ended up bonding over one particular factor greater than some other that 12 months, a subject that introduced them collectively and solid the inspiration of a lifelong friendship: Josh Hart was an extremely annoying individual.
THE SCRAPPY 2023-24 New York Knicks are a playoff staff held collectively by shut mates Brunson, DiVincenzo and, sure, Hart. However to grasp how these gamers obtained right here, it’s a must to perceive them then, in 2015.
Brunson met Hart that fall and preferred him straight away. He discovered Hart’s fixed jawing to be coming from a spot of affection, and he usually stood up for the junior when teammates railed on him. On a current episode of their new podcast, “Roommates Present,” Brunson described Hart as “a canine that should mark his territory.”
So he understood why different gamers grumbled about Hart. Hart has thick pores and skin and expects you to have it, too. And if that pores and skin is skinny, he tends to elect himself as your private toughener. For nearly each teammate, they undergo levels of annoyance with Hart: despising him, avoiding him, tolerating him, embracing him. He is a type of Draymond Inexperienced-type guys teammates find yourself loving as a result of he may be a nuisance however he is their nuisance.
Brunson had already labored his manner by means of all of the levels. He acknowledged straight away that Hart was a vital factor in what Villanova had constructed. Hart was a constant scorer who additionally hit the boards exhausting as a guard, and his power was the staff’s essential energy supply. He someway managed to stir the pot in a manner that was often a constructive — he at all times made issues attention-grabbing.
However in that winter of 2015, DiVincenzo was not in the correct psychological house to cope with Hart. He harm his foot early within the season and was sidelined for a number of months as he watched his teammates put together for a March run. It crushed him. “That first 12 months was robust on Donte,” says Sales space, his teammate for 3 seasons. “He wished to play so dangerous.”
The staff began 7-0, with seven double-digit wins, to rise to No. 8 within the nation. Brunson nearly immediately emerged as a significant contributor. He was a five-star recruit who had spent his whole life in locker rooms because the son of longtime NBA vet Rick Brunson. However the teaching workers was nonetheless stunned to see how shortly he slot in. “Everyone round him who thought they had been staff noticed what an precise employee seemed like round Jalen,” says Villanova assistant Ashley Howard. “When your greatest gamers have that type of work ethic, how can everyone else not do the identical?”
However the quick begin did not final. Nova bumped into No. 7 Oklahoma and Buddy Hield on Dec. 7. Hield, sporting his well-known white sleeve on one arm, was the most effective participant on the ground, and the Sooners beat Nova in a 78-55 blowout. He single-handedly outscored Brunson and Hart, who went a mixed 5-of-22 from the sphere for 16 factors. The complete staff seemed overmatched.
After the sport, coaches seen the staff seemed deflated. That obtained worse two video games later when No. 8 Virginia whacked the Wildcats 86-75. They thought they belonged on the checklist of the highest 10 or so groups able to profitable the NCAA match. However they simply obtained run off the courtroom by two others from that group of 10. They’d already heard chatter that coach Jay Wright’s Villanova groups had been at all times good for a pleasant roster, a pleasant document and a pleasant second-round exit from March Insanity. They gave the impression to be beginning to consider that themselves.
However the Wildcats rallied. Hart is the proper participant to have in these moments, when self-pity can develop into a heat blanket. Former teammates — particularly Brunson — choose on Hart as a half-asser in practices. However additionally they say that he is a stay wire who picks his moments to go exhausting and that his demeanor makes complacency not possible. He is a pest in the very best manner, and he went full Hart throughout what might have been an existential disaster for a staff. It is simple to see why the injury-depleted Knicks by no means fairly flatlined this 12 months. “He performs like he’s possessed,” Sales space says. “As soon as you bought to know him, you realize that his coronary heart is nice. You notice he is simply Josh being Josh.”
Josh being Josh helped propel Nova to tear off a 19-2 end to the common season that had the Wildcats constantly ranked within the prime 5 down the stretch. Brunson was a key addition to the rotation, scoring 9.6 PPG in 24 minutes per evening. He wasn’t practically the scorer he’s now. However he was and is a fierce firebrand who’s all enterprise. He is often quick and bland with the media and wasn’t made accessible for this story. However, as Hart usually says about him, Brunson has a enjoyable aspect behind the scenes. He and Hart are the proper mix of flavors in a locker room. “They actually play off one another effectively,” DiVincenzo says. “It is a good steadiness.”
However DiVincenzo wasn’t feeling that, not less than not again then. He struggled on the sideline from December by means of February. He was in a boot for many of that point, and he’d typically take off the boot of their dorm room and present Brunson how springy he felt. He appeared to need Brunson to inform him that he was able to return and that he ought to foyer to get again within the lineup. However Brunson was good friend — the most effective choice was for DiVincenzo to take a seat and apply for a medical redshirt.
Even right this moment, DiVincenzo appears to battle to course of being on the bench again then. As he sat at his locker in late March, DiVincenzo says, “Robust, robust 12 months.” He does not communicate for a second. Then he shakes his head and repeats the very same factor. “Robust 12 months.”
The Wildcats misplaced within the Huge East title recreation, netting them a 2-seed on the NCAAs. As they prepped for March Insanity, although, gamers and coaches felt as if they’d the most effective roster within the nation if they may put all of it collectively. And once they ripped off three straight double-digit wins to get to the Elite Eight, then took out No. 1 seed Kansas, the complete staff started to consider this was the 12 months the Cats would break their fame for flaming out in March.
Within the Closing 4, they’d face a well-known foe that had drubbed them earlier within the 12 months — Oklahoma and its white-sleeved Wood Award winner, Hield. Fortunate for Villanova, it had a secret weapon who’d assist it win the sport with out enjoying in it: Donte DiVincenzo.
IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE Jalen Brunson letting out a stomach giggle. He performs basketball with out restraint like a shaken-up can of Mountain Dew that explodes on the ground. However his public persona is cerebral and settled, so an uncontrollable guffaw does not appear attainable. On the podcast, although, Hart brings out the humorous aspect of Brunson. He goofs on Hart in a manner that Hart appears to take pleasure in, and teammates and coaches say Brunson is an distinctive, heat presence as soon as he is aware of somebody.
That heat saved DiVincenzo throughout his first 12 months. By late January, he was climbing the partitions at being away from the staff. He hadn’t practiced in months, and his already tenuous reference to among the vets — particularly Hart — was nearly nonexistent by that point.
Brunson was breaking out as a freshman starter on a staff ranked within the prime 5, and his roommate was begging the medical workers to get him again on the courtroom after his boot got here off. Throughout these moments, DiVincenzo credit Brunson for being the bridge from the staff to him and one of many essential causes he was capable of play a pivotal function in Nova’s postseason with out enjoying a single minute. The material of that relationship? Despising Josh Hart.
“Josh will let you know, I hated him,” DiVincenzo says. “A bunch of men did. Jalen and I had been greatest mates, and Jalen needed to say, ‘Come on, he is nice.’ However sure, that was our frequent bond.”
DiVincenzo was cleared to return to the courtroom for observe in early February. He was in freshman eligibility purgatory — he had already performed in December however was more likely to be granted a medical redshirt if he did not return that season. Since he wasn’t formally redshirting, although, DiVincenzo might journey and observe with the staff.
And he practiced quite a bit. Rookie Villanova assistant Matt Fraschilla, son of legendary coach Fran Fraschilla, was tasked with the entire logistical riffraff that staffers should deal with — wakeup calls, forgotten telephone chargers, random automobile rides, monitoring class schedules. He remembers getting a name one evening at about 10 from DiVincenzo proper after he’d been cleared. Fraschilla was out on a primary date.
“Are you able to come shoot round with me?” DiVincenzo requested.
Fraschilla seemed throughout at his date and stated he needed to go due to a piece obligation. His date stated she was an enormous Villanova fan and requested what he needed to do. “Donte DiVincenzo desires to shoot round,” he stated.
His date informed him to go. He rushed off to shoot with DiVincenzo, and Fraschilla scheduled a second date along with her. That was it, although — the one fortunately ever after on this anecdote is that DiVincenzo was cooking on the scout staff by the point the match rolled round.
Villanova romped into its Closing 4 matchup in opposition to Hield. Then the teaching workers got here to DiVincenzo and informed him he needed to develop into Hield. They gave him complete freedom to run the scout staff and stated no shot was a nasty shot. Howard was tasked with arising with an Oklahoma counterintelligence recreation plan to beat Villanova, and he taught DiVincenzo as many Hield performs as attainable. “Observe is your recreation day,” Howard saved telling him.
For that week, DiVincenzo watched countless Hield tape and tried to be taught his recreation. By the tip of the week, he was Buddy Hield, and he destroyed his personal teammates. To today, Nova gamers and coaches shake their heads in disbelief at DiVincenzo, in a pink pinny, torching the Wildcats each observe. He was ridiculous. One participant remembers a coach muttering, “Buddy goes to kill us.”
Half the gamers felt nice as a result of they did not consider Hield might probably be pretty much as good as DiVincenzo had been. “When you noticed a participant play like that in an everyday recreation, you would not consider it was actual,” Sales space says. “I bear in mind feeling like if we compete exhausting, we might beat Oklahoma after that.”
The opposite half felt terrified as a result of they’d had no solutions for a freshman pretending to be a man they’d already struggled in opposition to. “He was roasting us,” Hart says. “The pictures he was hitting had been absurd. If Buddy was going to make these, it was a wrap for us.”
On the primary OU possession, Hield hit a step-back 3-pointer that Hart remembers vividly to today. Oklahoma led 3-0, however then the observe hours of chasing after DiVincenzo kicked in. Nova defenders — together with Brunson and Hart — swarmed Hield to the purpose that he had one of many worst video games of his profession (4-of-12 taking pictures for 9 factors). He obtained so annoyed at varied factors that he saved taking his white sleeve on and off, and nothing ever clicked. Hart scored 23, Brunson had 8, and Nova beat Oklahoma 95-51 within the worst Closing 4 drubbing ever. “That was simply a type of nights,” Wright stated afterward. “I really feel dangerous for Oklahoma.”
Brunson was ecstatic about what the blowout win meant for the staff but in addition for his roommate. DiVincenzo had felt like an actual Wildcat throughout that stretch, and the teaching workers and gamers had been wide-eyed imagining what the longer term can be when DiVincenzo was out of the pink pinny. “He did extra injury in observe than Buddy Hield did within the recreation,” Hart says.
Within the nationwide title recreation, Villanova beat North Carolina, a 2-point favourite, 77-74 on Jenkins’ 3-pointer on the buzzer. Not lengthy after the celebration ended, the teaching workers huddled collectively and smiled. With Hart, Jenkins, Brunson and Bridges all coming again — and their redshirt Hield clone wholesome — the 2016-17 Nova staff appeared prefer it may be even higher than the nationwide title staff.
However then, The Incident occurred.
BRUNSON AND HART just lately invited DiVincenzo as a visitor on the “Roommates” podcast. They’re all very shut now. However with each teammates egging him on, DiVincenzo goes deep on how a lot he despised Hart throughout his first two years at Nova. DiVincenzo and Hart obtained into a number of bodily altercations that, looking back, appear as if they may have derailed the entire program.
One was within the locker room as a freshman, when Hart was needling DiVincenzo and DiVincenzo refused to only take his ribbing. They jawed backwards and forwards for a bit till they obtained shut bodily and Hart locked DiVincenzo right into a headlock. “Donte could not transfer,” Brunson says on the podcast.
“The factor about Josh is, I do not ever see him raise,” DiVincenzo chimes in. “However he’s hella robust.”
They obtained damaged up, and DiVincenzo determined he’d maintain his distance from Hart. They stayed civil as a lot as attainable, and Hart could not assist however respect DiVincenzo’s expertise and work ethic. There’s additionally one thing about his character that he likes when folks stand as much as him. “Josh respects that,” Sales space says. “I believe he likes to know he has guys round him who’re as robust as him.”
However as the following season started, the Villanova staff weight room was being renovated and DiVincenzo discovered himself in an open pupil health middle jawing with Hart. Hart made some kind of insult that brought about an agitated DiVincenzo to inform him, “Say it once more,” as he stood with a 10-pound plate in his hand. Hart stated it once more, and DiVincenzo swung the burden at him.
The following brawl was ultimately damaged up by teammates, together with Brunson, and the 2 ended up having to satisfy with Wright. Wright could not consider that DiVincenzo swung a weight at Hart. However he additionally could not consider Hart stated what he stated — no person who spoke with ESPN for this story would repeat it. “The plate ought to have hit him with what Josh stated,” Brunson says now.
Contained in the Knicks locker room in March, DiVincenzo is seated at his locker once I deliver up The Incident. He smiles and declines to touch upon what particularly occurred. He says that through the years — particularly when he obtained to the NBA and began exchanging pleasantries with Hart once they’d face off — he started to understand and perceive Hart. Brunson continued campaigning for Hart with DiVincenzo, emphasizing that Hart throws excessive warmth solely at folks he really cares about. “Meaning he values you,” Brunson informed him.
DiVincenzo says that they are each adults now and that he did not assume twice about signing with the Knicks as a result of Hart was on the roster and that it really helped win him over final offseason. He shrugs and says, “Josh was only a bully. A playful bully.”
He pauses and begins to smirk as he appears over on the entrance to the locker room. “Talking of the bully, right here he’s,” DiVincenzo says.
He yells throughout the room to Hart that he’d simply been requested about The Incident, and Hart lets out a hiss that appears like a scuba tank broke. “Why are you desirous to know our enterprise?” he shouts at me.
“It was nothing,” DiVincenzo provides. Hart rattles off a number of expletives aimed toward me, and DiVincenzo offers a jovial look that appears to say, Welcome to the Josh Hart expertise.
Hart’s not finished. “Inform him to only take heed to the ‘Roommates’ podcast,” Hart yells. “We talked about this, bro.”
When approached two minutes later, Hart is lacing up his sneakers. With out even trying up, he says, “You bought one query, bro.”
Hart by no means raises his eyes as he will get able to exit for a taking pictures session. However he solutions a number of questions and eventually says he wants to go away. He begins to jog out of the locker room and says he’ll reply another as he runs.
Hart is shifting quick now, so I ask him why so many former Villanova gamers say he’s annoying. Hart is 6-foot-4, 215 kilos and may gallop. He by no means breaks stride as he contemplates easy methods to assess his personal character. Hart breaks right into a dash as he will get to the courtroom. He yells again over his shoulder, “I do not know. I suppose I am only a well mannered a–hole.” And with that, he’s gone.
Hart and DiVincenzo made it work throughout that 2016-17 season. However they each thought they had been by no means going to be mates, they usually each determined that was OK. The Nova staff was a juggernaut in the course of the season, by no means dropping out of the highest 4 because the Wildcats went 31-3 and had been the highest total seed within the NCAA match.
Brunson made an enormous leap as a sophomore, though nonetheless largely as a distributor moderately than a scorer. DiVincenzo got here off the bench and averaged 8.8 PPG. Hart was the Huge East’s Participant of the Yr, main the staff in scoring (18.7) and rebounding (6.4 RPG). He is by no means been a dominant scorer within the NBA, however he’s impactful. Brunson just lately jokingly requested what Hart (profession NBA scoring common of 9.8 PPG) does to earn his $12 million wage, and Hart stated, “Run round like an fool in the course of the recreation and simply f— s— up.”
Within the second spherical of the NCAA match, Villanova stumbled once more. Hart obtained stripped within the closing seconds, and No. 8 seed Wisconsin ended the Wildcats’ season — and Hart’s profession — in a 65-62 victory. A number of sources interviewed for this story stated the DiVincenzo-Hart chilliness was actual however performed no half within the loss. “Wisconsin was simply actually good, and a nasty matchup for us,” Sales space says.
After the loss, Hart was heartbroken. He had declared for the NBA draft a 12 months earlier, then opted to make a run at back-to-back titles. Now it was over. Just a few days after the season, he was preparing for the 2017 draft when he took a break to go to the Wood Award ceremony in Los Angeles. He did all of the L.A. issues after which went to the banquet, the place he did not win. Earlier than he left L.A., although, he had one final job — a walk-on cameo for an episode of “Basic Hospital.”
He and the opposite Wood candidates had been every given some dialogue, and Hart nailed his. In a line that Villanova folks nonetheless typically say to him, Hart stood close to the nurse’s station and stated, “Rattling it, Kiki” to character Kiki Jerome. It was his last act as a Villanova basketball participant. Now, Hart was off to the NBA, and his time enjoying beside Brunson and DiVincenzo was over, or so he thought.
AS YOU WATCH the 2023-24 Knicks cobble collectively wins by means of a maddening rash of accidents, together with to star Julius Randle, it is not possible to not see the staff’s similarities with the 2017-18 Villanova staff.
The Wildcats began 13-0, with a roster that ran 9 deep with completely different elements that someway latched collectively completely. Brunson was electrical, a full-blown NBA prospect who had grown right into a scorer alongside together with his playmaking skill; he would in the end win the Wood Award that 12 months.
DiVincenzo was actually among the many 5 greatest gamers on the roster. However coaches marveled at his skill to look at from the sideline, even for only a few minutes, and immediately decode the movement of the sport. He’d are available a couple of minutes into the primary half and he would’ve already found out easy methods to present an instantaneous spark. DiVincenzo posted a uncommon stat line for a man who’d be an NBA first-round choose a number of months later: 40 video games performed, solely 10 begins, 29.3 minutes per recreation.
The staff obtained to 22-1 and No. 1 within the rankings, rising as a legit nationwide title contender and potential prime total seed. However then a weird flood of midyear accidents — together with three guys with damaged arms — had Nova down to 6 or seven wholesome gamers on many nights. DiVincenzo needed to play main minutes, and Brunson and Bridges, a redshirt junior, mainly could not come out.
The staff sputtered to 3 losses in its subsequent six video games and sometimes seemed gassed on the finish of video games. Nearly as good because the Wildcats’ stars had been enjoying, they wanted their guys again or else they’d wither in the course of the postseason push. Does any of this sound acquainted, Knicks followers?
The massive distinction between this 12 months’s Knicks staff and that Nova squad is that Hart is enjoying his well mannered ass off at MSG and again then- Brunson and DiVincenzo needed to do it with out him. The staff sagged badly down the stretch, culminating in a late-season Sunday afternoon loss at Creighton that had everybody on the staff silently boiling of their seats because the aircraft sat on the runway forward of the flight out of Omaha.
However that is the place they stayed for a number of hours. The pilot saved saying that the aircraft was delayed whereas the crew tried to deice the wings so the aircraft might take off in a nasty wintry combine. Lastly, the pilot stated that the deicer had damaged and that the aircraft was being pulled again to the terminal. The complete Villanova staff and workers groaned about getting off the aircraft and shuffling again to a resort for the evening.
That is about when the silent scorn started to interrupt. Gamers had been upset and complaining, and the teaching workers had no persistence for it. Once they obtained to the resort, gamers and coaches requested for an open convention room to air all of it out. And so they did. A number of sources stated the assembly was significantly ugly, an hour of brutal honesty from a workers that thought the gamers had been feeling sorry for themselves and a roster that felt as if the gamers had been being run into the bottom. “What occurred in there stays in there,” says present Villanova coach Kyle Neptune. “But it surely wasn’t fairly. Everyone obtained an opportunity to get issues off their chests.”
However hey, not less than no person swung any 10-pound plates at anyone. After an hour or so, the temperature had dropped sufficient that folks went again to their rooms. Sales space stayed with DiVincenzo that evening, however all of the gamers had been in a collection of rooms proper subsequent to one another. As midnight approached, all of them had their doorways open and room service had arrived.
Gamers bear in mind grumbling in regards to the coaches for a bit, however then Brunson and DiVincenzo steered them out of the negativity. “It is all about pulling collectively and beginning over, beginning now,” Brunson stated. “We’re higher than this.”
That was the mantra the following morning — We’re higher than this — as Villanova took off on a constitution flight again to Philadelphia feeling as if the staff had a contemporary begin, courtesy of a damaged deicing machine.
On staff flights, coaches tended to remain up entrance, with gamers seated within the again. However on this journey, Wright had informed the workers members they wanted to rally the blokes after the dangerous cop stuff from the evening earlier than. So gamers had been stunned when assistants began coming to the again of the aircraft and pulling them, separately, to return up and sit with Wright for a couple of minutes.
Every of these conversations was slightly completely different, with Wright expressing precisely what the expectations for the stretch run can be for every participant. However the total tone was upbeat. “We’re ok to beat anyone within the nation,” Wright emphasised. The teaching workers did not realize it on the time, however the gamers had already satisfied themselves of it.
That notorious Omaha runway stranding is now folklore at Villanova due to what occurred subsequent. Nova obtained wholesome, then romped by means of the Huge East match with 4 straight wins. Within the NCAA match, the Cats starched six straight groups by double digits to win all of it. Brunson was his regular regular self, scoring 97 factors and enjoying 31.3 minutes per match recreation. And DiVincenzo had a star-making flip coming off the bench to dominate the nationwide title recreation with 31 factors in a 79-62 win in opposition to Michigan.
That kicked off a relentless debate amongst Villanova gamers that rages to today: Which staff was higher, 2016 or 2018? Brunson and DiVincenzo are diplomatic with their solutions, saying each had been nice. However Sales space, who was on each groups, says what the final consensus appears to be: that the 2018 squad was only a hair extra explosive and athletic.
Proper earlier than Hart takes off onto the MSG ground in March, I ask his opinion on the 2016 vs. 2018 debate and he offers a succinct reply: “Suck one. How about that? Subsequent query.”
There’s DNA from each of these title groups on this Knicks squad, although. Brunson, DiVincenzo and Hart have arguably been an important three-man group within the NBA for the reason that All-Star break. They’ve performed extra minutes (691) than some other trio since mid-February. With a depleted bench, the three Nova Knicks scored a mixed 63 PPG as New York surged into the No. 2 seed. That push obtained them a date within the first spherical in opposition to the Philadelphia 76ers and — who else? — Buddy Hield.
As Brunson and DiVincenzo celebrated after the 2018 title recreation, DiVincenzo was introduced as probably the most excellent participant of the Closing 4 regardless of not beginning a recreation. At that second, they could not assist however take into consideration these days sitting 5 toes aside as freshmen after which every little thing that occurred after that.
However additionally they felt bittersweet. Hart was off to the NBA, and they’d be now, too. What had been the chances they’d ever be teammates once more?
DiVincenzo shrugged and hugged Brunson, saying: “Hey, you by no means know …”
