Josh Hart, on behalf of Mikal Bridges, has been collecting receipts.

When the latter’s New York Knicks tenure got off to a rocky start, it was Hart who would passionately simmer down any concerns presented about his teammate. It was Hart who would gladly go on the “Told you so!” victory lap when Bridges would play well. As Bridges remained even-keeled, never showing publicly that his early-season struggles coupled with the expectations of jumping from the Brooklyn Nets to the Knicks were getting to him, Hart was permeating the emotion that Bridges wasn’t.

“Because that’s my brother,” Hart said after Bridges’ 41-point Christmas Day performance about why he always felt the need to go to bat so hard for his teammate. “I know what he can do, I know his mindset. People got to realize not one player in this league plays a great game all 82 games. There are peaks and valleys … that’s why you try to stay even-keeled. He did that. He’s a guy who put the work in, and when you see a guy put the work in, you know what he’s capable of, the character he has. We knew it was just a matter of time before he found it.

“And now that he found (it), y’all are not saying nothing. Get your damn apology forms out. I’ll be collecting them next game. Give him his flowers because he’s playing well. Let the flowers be as loud as the hate.”

Together, the two Knicks wings are playing tremendous basketball. The concerns about Bridges should have stopped well before he gifted the New York faithful bucket after bucket on Christmas. Hart, meanwhile, is in the midst of, arguably, the best season of his career. The man who was worried how he’d fit in with the new-look Knicks after a subdued preseason is nearly averaging a double-double.

The two appear to have a good relationship, if that wasn’t clear from Hart being protective of Bridges. However, that wasn’t always the case. Hart and Bridges also were teammates at Villanova from 2014-17, and the same relentlessness you see Hart lay on opponents is what Bridges had to deal with as a redshirt freshman.

“He was a bully when I first got to campus,” Bridges, the younger of the two by almost 18 months, said, half jokingly. “I had nothing wrong with him. He didn’t like me at the beginning. There might have been a little fear of a 6-6 lanky kid who was looking pretty solid. I think he had a little fear factor. Ever since that, we’ve been closer.”

Hart admitted that it wasn’t personal toward Bridges; he just didn’t like freshmen. The friction was rooted in the fact that Hart didn’t — and still doesn’t — like to practice. Bridges, along with the other youngsters in the Wildcats program, would need more teaching than the older players.

“There’s just a process, especially at Villanova. There’s the Villanova way, and the freshmen, they don’t know that,” Hart said. “They got to try and figure it out. For me, I’m just like, ‘Let’s keep it moving.’ You don’t want people slowing up the process. I’m the same way with rookies. I’m just a little more tempered. I have kids now.”

To get the sophomore to practice the way he played in games, Villanova and former Knicks teammate Ryan Arcidiacono told The Athletic that coaches would have to intentionally push Hart’s buttons. Wildcats assistant coach Ashley Howard said the staff “would have to talk trash” to Hart in order to get him engaged. Former Villanova head coach Jay Wright would challenge him separately in ways that “you can’t say in an interview.”

Mikal Bridges helps Josh Hart off the floor during Villanova’s Final Four game against Oklahoma in 2016. The Wildcats would go on to win the NCAA title and added another, with Bridges, in 2018. (Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

Bridges started his college career on the scout team and would be matched up against Hart. He ended up being the target of Hart’s aggressive energy directed toward the coaches.

“Josh use to terrorize Mikal early on,” Howard told The Athletic. “Mikal wasn’t physically where he eventually got, and Josh is Josh. The Josh Hart you guys see now, he was that from Day 1. He was fierce, tough, nasty and a competitor. Low and behold, what ends up happening is that you get a Mikal Bridges who is a young freshman and was committed the whole year to improving his body, doing skill work and watching film. His game day was practice. His game day was against Josh Hart, this dude who we all knew was the toughest and nastiest on the floor. He made Mikal better.”

Bridges would get the better of Hart, too. Even back then, his windmill arms and defensive instincts would sometimes block the shot of Hart. However, that just annoyed Hart even more.

“Anytime Josh got his shot blocked and there was a change of possession, the next time Mikal got the ball, whether it was on the break or chasing him down or within the half court, it was like big brother versus little brother,” Villanova assistant coach Mike Nardi said. “Josh tried to send a message. We all believe that helped lead to Mikal becoming who he is. They were competing every single day.”

Those instances proved Villanova had something in Bridges.

“Now they’re going at it,” Howard said. “We’re looking at it like, ‘Damn!’ We know Josh Hart is one of the best players in the country, so we know that if Mikal can guard him and make it hard for him, Mikal must be really good. It means we have a pretty good team here.”

Bridges and Hart were national champions at Villanova in 2016, and Bridges added a second title as a member of the 2018 team. Today, the duo, along with OG Anunoby, is part of one of the NBA’s best group of wings.

They’ve adopted the name “Wing Stop,” but Hart has been lobbying for the nickname “Wingy Hut Jr.,” which is a play on a fictional Bikini Bottom restaurant in the cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants.” The trio make up the ultimate supporting cast for the Jalen Brunson/Karl Anthony Towns-led offense, which ranks second in the NBA. It’s the play of Hart, Bridges and Anunoby that brings the stability while the two stars fluctuate between MVP-level performances. Defensively, the trio, along with coach Tom Thibodeau, largely has been responsible for the Knicks climbing up the defensive rankings over the past few weeks.

The irony in the competitive friction between Bridges and Hart early in their college days is that as time has gone on, their games are similar. Both move well without the ball. Both take pride on the defensive end. Both like to talk on the court. Seeing them as teammates at this level, it’s easy to envision how the two might have clashed on campus when guarding each other.

At the time, though, neither could have known those heated duels would prepare them for this: a chance to turn a tortured basketball city back into champions together. Back then, they were just trying to do what it takes to win at the highest level in college, which they did.

Hart and Bridges went through the gantlet together when few were watching. It made them better players and better friends in the process.

“Iron sharpens iron,” Howard said. “Mikal knew he had to bring it once Josh was locked in, or he’d get run through.”

Now they’re running through the NBA together.

Required Reading

(Top photo of Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)