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Josh Hart Explained His Classy Gesture to Teammate After Record-Setting Performance

A lot of history was made at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

Kyle Koster

Josh Hart on his decision to give the game ball to Kevin McCullars Jr.
Josh Hart on his decision to give the game ball to Kevin McCullars Jr. / SNY
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There are more hallowed franchise records for the New York Knicks than the single-season triple-double mark but anything that makes history is worth celebrating. So Josh Hart would be well within his rights to want to keep a souvenir from his record-setting ninth time accomplishing the feat this year. Instead he chose to give the game ball to rookie Kevin McCullar Jr, who scored his first NBA points in the Knicks' 128-113 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

After the contest, Hart told reporters why he opted for the classy gesture.

"That record is cool and a blessing, but it's going to get broken at some point," Hart said. "Getting your first NBA points, no one is going to take that away from you."

McCullar, from Kansas, came off the bench to put his name in the scoring column for the first time. Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns also made history by becoming the first pair of Knicks teammates to each record a triple-double in the same game. So all in all a very eventful night for the team's clubhouse staff as they tried to ensure the right person got the right keepsakes. And then Hart just makes the decision for them.

Respect.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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