Ahead of their Central Park podcast party, Boardroom spoke to the Nova Knick stars about their humble rise in the Empire City.
Chopped cheese sandwiches and Timberland boots may be the only entities more universally loved in New York right now than Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.
Over the weekend, Brunson’s Big Apple Q score surpassed Jay-Z when the All-NBA guard took a pay cut. The team-oriented option placed the Knicks in a cap situation cozier than a Yankees fitted.
Because of Brunson, the city has a star Point God they can call their own backed by a salary all can celebrate for the first time in decades.
Across the court, The City That Never Sleeps has a hero who never rests.
Hart, Brunson’s backcourt mate of NY and Villanova fame, has lived up to his last name in concept and cardio. The 6’4 hybrid is the ultimate everyman, carrying the spirit and swagger New Yorkers of all occupations can identify with.
In a city where ego is essential and skyscrapers set status, two down-to-earth icons have emerged as the building blocks of a franchise worth $6.6 billion and a city that claims 8.3 million residents.
Aware of their audience but unphased by fame, Brunson and Hart enjoy the excitement in the city much more as equals than as alphas. Their keen connection to each other and the market grows even stronger this summer as the Nova Knicks are taking their podcast production live to Central Park.
“It’s our way to show New York love,” Hart told Boardroom. “It’s not just a live pod. We’re gonna make sure it’s fun.”
True to Hart’s word, the bonafide block party at Rumsey Playfield will feature live music from Action Bronson and accommodate 5,000 fans.
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“This isn’t just a sit-down talk type of thing,” Brunson told Boardroom. “We want people to enjoy themselves and we’re gonna have fun.”
More party than panel, Jon Stewart, Stephon Marbury, and newly minted Knick Mikal Bridges are all on the bill. The event serves as the Season 2 kickoff for their Roommates Show podcast and the upcoming 2024-25 NBA season.
From pay cuts to content, Boardroom spoke with the two standouts, later expanding on just how Hart and Brunson are leveraging long-term views on winning as the new superheroes of Gotham.
Against All Odds
North Carolina and Duke didn’t come knocking when Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart had college commitments on their mind.
Each Top 100 talent was widely regarded coming out of high school but not no-brainers when it came to Blue Blood buy-in. Once aligning at Villanova, each athlete grew into a role under Jay Wright with winning and team goals always totem.
In four years of college, Hart would win one championship and float to the end of the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft. Similarly, Brunson took home two titles in his three-year stay before entering the NBA a year later as a second-round selection.
With rich resumes and limited expectations, the former college roommates forged their own NBA paths as sometimes starters or highly rated reserves long before fate brought them together once more in New York. Together, they have ushered the Knicks to the second round of the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in almost a quarter century.
Because of this, the $1.83 billion arena they call home has been absolutely alive.
“It’s crazy,” Hart said. “The lineup as a Knicks fan courtside? It’s a lot. You have Ben Stiller, Tracy Morgan, Spike Lee, Chris Rock, Fat Joe… To have those guys who are New York legends? They’re really cool.”
Regardless of the hype, the two totem attractions remain as excited yet even keel as the concession cook grilling glizzies.
“We put pants on just like everyone else does,” said Brunson.
Days after speaking to Boardroom, Brunson’s modesty proved more than just media training: he inked an extension deal a year ahead of what would’ve made for a $269.1 million payday.
The rationale behind the only active All-NBA member of the Knicks letting go of $113 million in eventual income? Ensuring that the team could keep its core together.
For a franchise with +900 odds to win their first championship in over half a century, Brunson became the unquestioned king of money-makin’ Manhattan by taking a pay cut. It says even more about what Brunson is building in the Garden.
When considering his ability to bring in Bridges — and the fact that at over 46 minutes per playoff game, Hart could easily sue Tom Thibodeau under the Fair Labor Standards Act — the Nova Knicks now own the creme de la capitalism simply by not being caught up in cash or clout.
This lack of vanity from two non-native New Yorkers may feel foreign to sports fans. And that’s because it is. As expressed, it’s not media training, though neither Hart nor Brunson are afraid to talk their talk in their opposing manners.
Microphone Fiends
For two talents that don’t seek attention, Josh and Jalen sure own the limelight when they have it.
Following a second-round playoff exit that had more to do with fractured hands and abdominal strains than shooting touch or guts, each unlikely star spent the spring and summer back on TV.
Immediately, ABC brought on Hart as part of their NBA Finals commentary crew. Weeks later, Brunson returned to primetime television not on the Knicks bench but with a steel chair as part of WWE Smackdown.
Playing high-stakes hoops in front of thousands of screaming fans surely prepared each Knick for new looks in the limelight. However, so did their decision to start a podcast five months ago.
“This experience has definitely taken off more than I thought it would,” Brunson said.
Inspired by their shared college dorm and love of Step Brothers, The Roommates Podcast Show is as casual and candid as the hosts themselves. Hart’s hooting bravado and Brunson’s dry delivery have already earned almost 100k subscribers on YouTube alone despite being only one season in.
Between a unique bond, a major market, and CAA representation, The Roommates Show has a real chance to reach an outsized audience and grab A-list guests from all corners of sports and entertainment.
The rapid rise has introduced a previously unlikely question: doe existing as tangential members of the media in New York make it any easier to play in such a historically harsh market?
“I don’t think me and JB realize we’re media just because we’re ourselves on the podcast,” said Hart. “We don’t put on a front or try to get approval on what we put out. I don’t know if we’re really part of the media, but the media itself in New York? It’s been fun, it hasn’t been that bad.”
So, is cashing in on the NBA’s endless media opportunities next for the budding backcourt?
“I don’t know,” Brunson said. “The best thing is me and Josh take it one day at a time. To be able to do this and not have the highest of expectations? It makes it a lot of fun. We have fun and we’re ourselves. We want to connect with our listeners in ways that show them that we’re human and that we enjoy what we do on the court.”
This September, fans will have the chance to connect closer than courtside seats.
Park Jam
Amidst contract conversations and endless expectations for the 2024-25 NBA Season, Brunson and Hart announced Season 2 of The Roommate Show coming live and direct from Central Park. Powered by Playmaker and Medium Rare, the event brings the same spectacular backing seen at Shaq’s Fun House and Dave Portnoy’s One Bite Pizza Fest.
Said scale is enough to up the ante on a side project started out of curiosity as much as opportunity.
“The live podcast and Season 2 is something we’re looking forward to,” said Hart. “We’re gonna have really dope guests.”
The evening event set for September will see tickets go on sale this Friday.
For a city with millions of Knicks fans, moving 5,000 tickets should be light work for the blue-collar combo. One has to wonder if there’s ever a world where live podcasts take place in the same cities Josh and Jalen travel to for road games.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Brunson said. “But knowing me and Josh? It would take a long discussion because we are very detail-oriented when it comes to our gameday routines. One of us could blow up at any moment. Particularly Josh.”
For now, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart belong to New York and vice versa.
Passionate play and humble humor have given each Knick a key to the city while a championship could warrant statues for each podcasting player.
It’s an unlikely outcome for two out-of-town talents who’ve worked their way into becoming Big Apple royalty.
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