{"id":68886,"date":"2024-03-18T18:03:16","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T22:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=68886"},"modified":"2024-03-18T18:03:16","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T22:03:16","slug":"josh-hart-texted-former-nba-champion-to-join-new-york-knicks-kyle-lowry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/18\/josh-hart-texted-former-nba-champion-to-join-new-york-knicks-kyle-lowry\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Hart &#8220;Texted&#8221; Former NBA Champion to Join New York Knicks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to New York Knicks wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hartjo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-18_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Hart<\/a>, he had interest in teaming up with a former NBA champion this season. In a recent interview, Hart said he &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/news\/kyle-lowry-now-with-his-hometown-76ers-is-as-fiery-as-ever-in-year-18-he-dont-believe-in-sugarcoating\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">texted<\/a>&#8221; veteran point guard and fellow Villanova alum <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lowryky01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-18_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Lowry<\/a> after the 38-year-old was bought out by the Charlotte Hornets in February:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Yeah, I texted his a&#8211;,&#8221; Hart said. &#8220;I told him, &#8216;Pull up.&#8217; Told him, &#8216;F&#8212; with us.&#8217; But obviously that didn&#8217;t happen, so f&#8212; him.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Lowry eventually <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/02\/10\/nba-news-philadelphia-76ers-signing-kyle-lowry\/\" target=\"_self\">signed<\/a> with his hometown Philadelphia 76ers. In 11 games played with the 76ers, Lowry has averaged 7.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Josh Hart tried recruiting Kyle Lowry to the Knicks<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI texted his ass. I told him, &#8216;Pull up.&#8217; Told him, &#8216;F&#8212; with us.&#8217; But obviously that didn&#8217;t happen, so f&#8212; him.\u201d \ud83d\ude05<\/p>\n<p>(Via <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QdDbly4oJj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/QdDbly4oJj<\/a>) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GrgNCOWQMt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/GrgNCOWQMt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheDunkCentral\/status\/1769803957218521538?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 18, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Hart talked about what makes Lowry a good player at this stage in his career, citing the Knicks&#8217; playoff series against Lowry and the Miami Heat last year:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;He\u2019s able to think through plays. He makes heads-up plays.\u201d Hart referenced Game 1 of the Knicks\u2019 second-round series last year: \u201cI felt like we were kind of on a little comeback, a little run,\u201d and then, after what seemed like a \u201cbig stop,\u201d Lowry, then a member of the Miami Heat, poked a rebound out of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/robinmi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-18_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mitchell Robinson<\/a>\u2019s hands, leading to a 3 that tilted the momentum in Miami\u2019s favor. \u201cIt\u2019s just little, small plays like that that he makes all the time.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Josh Hart &#8220;Texted&#8221; Former NBA Champion to Join New York Knicks<\/h2>\n<h3>Would Kyle Lowry Have Been a Good Fit for the Knicks?<\/h3>\n<p>Although Lowry has not been an NBA All-Star since the 2019-20 season, he can still contribute at a high level. Following the signing, head coach Nick Nurse, who coached Lowry with the 2018-19 champion Toronto Raptors, praised the guard&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/hoopshype.com\/rumor\/2684970\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">competitive nature<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Nobody competes like that guy. I haven\u2019t had a player in my entire coaching career that competes like that guy. That\u2019s the highest compliment I can give him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The Knicks are a team that values competitiveness and hustle play. For that alone, Lowry could have fit in well with the team. Furthermore, Lowry would have provided good depth to New York&#8217;s backcourt.<\/p>\n<p>New York already has a solid starting point guard in budding star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brunsja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-18_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Brunson<\/a>. For now, it appears Brunson, also a Villanova product, is going to be the team&#8217;s starting point guard for the next several years. Additionally, the Knicks have a solid backup point guard already in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcbrimi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-18_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miles McBride<\/a>. However, beyond these two, the Knicks were thin at the point guard position at the time of Lowry&#8217;s buyout.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, the Knicks signed veteran point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/miltosh01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-18_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shake Milton<\/a> after the Detroit Pistons waived him. Had Lowry joined the team, it is unlikely the Knicks would have added Milton.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word on Kyle Lowry<\/h3>\n<p>Lowry&#8217;s NBA career is on its last legs. Whether he has another season in him remains unknown. Currently, the 40-27 Knicks are in a better spot than the 37-30 76ers. However, Philadelphia can still get reigning MVP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/embiijo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-18_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joel Embiid<\/a> back in time for the playoffs. If they do, they are a serious contender to make a deep postseason run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to New York Knicks wing Josh Hart, he had interest in teaming up with a former NBA champion this season. In a recent interview, Hart said he &#8220;texted&#8221; veteran point guard and fellow Villanova alum Kyle Lowry after the 38-year-old was bought out by the Charlotte Hornets in February: &#8220;Yeah, I texted his a&#8211;,&#8221; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":68888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,2,62,12,3,13],"tags":[1417,267,1004,319,4389,1616,3811],"class_list":["post-68886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","category-knicks","category-news","category-76ers","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-joel-embiid","tag-josh-hart","tag-kyle-lowry","tag-miles-mcbride","tag-mitchell-robinson","tag-shake-milton"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}