Josh Hart

Joshua Aaron Hart (born March 6, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Hart was born on March 6, 1995, in Silver Spring, Maryland, to Moses and Pat Hart.

He has two siblings, Moses Joseph Hart and Aimee Hart.

He is also the great-nephew of the baseball catcher Elston Howard.

Growing up, Hart gravitated toward basketball and earned a reputation as a high-energy player.

While he excelled in basketball from a young age, Hart didn't get any interest from private schools and enrolled at Wheaton High School.

He briefly attended Wheaton before transferring to Sidwell Friends School, where as a junior he averaged 20.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.

However, he was nearly kicked out of school due to poor grades until several students and parents petitioned the school to give him a second chance.

As a senior, Hart averaged 24.3 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game in leading the team to a 22–9 record.

After considering Rutgers and Penn State, Hart signed a letter of intent with Villanova in November 2012.

"It's about doing the things that the coaches want me to do," he said after committing.

"I might not hit the winning three but I'm going to be the one that goes and gets a rebound when we need it and goes on the floor for a loose ball, anything to win."

He got to know future Villanova teammate Kris Jenkins while playing AAU basketball in the Washington area.

Hart was awarded Boy Scouts of America's highest rank, Eagle Scout, and became one of only three known Eagle Scouts who have played in the NCAA's Final Four (along with Princeton's Bill Bradley and Stanford's Mark Madsen).

He is the only Eagle Scout to ever start on an NCAA Men's Basketball Championship team.

He was a first-team All-Met selection by The Washington Post and Rivals.com's 82nd-ranked prospect in the class of 2013.

A 2013–14 Big East All-Rookie Team selection, Hart averaged 7.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest as a freshman at Villanova.

He was named Big East Rookie of the Week three times.

He did not shoot the ball particularly well, making 31 percent of his three-point tries, but possessed "amazing confidence," according to assistant coach Baker Dunleavy.

In the second game of his collegiate career, a 90–59 win over Mount St. Mary's, Hart posted a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds.

He scored a season-high 19 points in an 88–67 win over Rider on December 21, 2013.

Hart had 18 points and eight rebounds in a loss to Seton Hall in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.

Hart and teammate Darrun Hilliard both scored 20 points in an 85–62 rout of Temple on December 14, 2014.

Hart scored 21 points in a December 20 game against Syracuse.

The Wildcats never led in regulation and were down by 14 points in the second half, but managed to pull out an 82–77 overtime win.

On February 28, 2015, in the second half of a game against Xavier, Hart was hit in the mouth during a scramble for the ball, requiring stitches on his lip.

As a sophomore, Hart was named the Big East's sixth man of the year at the conclusion of the regular season.

"He's the perfect sixth man because he can come in and play any position except probably point guard," head coach Jay Wright said.

Hart was the most outstanding player of the 2015 Big East men's basketball tournament, the first bench player to receive the honor.

He was the tournament's leading scorer at 17.7 points per game, including a 20-point performance in an 84–49 quarterfinals victory over Marquette.

He improved his three-point shooting to 47.3 percent, forcing opposing teams to guard him more on the perimeter.

He improved his season averages to 10.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Hart's 2015–16 Wildcats were the unanimous coaches preseason selection to win the conference.

In the NIT season tip-off, Hart scored a career-high 27 points to help Villanova defeat Akron by a score of 75–56.

He was named a third-team All-American as a junior, when he helped lead the Wildcats to a national championship in 2016.

He was selected in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz with the 30th overall pick before being traded on draft night to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Hart played college basketball for Villanova.

As a sophomore, Hart was named the Big East tournament most outstanding player.

As a senior in 2017, he was a consensus first-team All-American.

He played two seasons for the Lakers before being traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019 in a package for Anthony Davis.