'Bag Man' Josh Hart: Knicks Extension is 'Dream Come True'

Josh Hart's immediate and distant future is respectively sealed with both Team USA and the New York Knicks.

Home is where the heart is ... even if the body is over 3,600 miles away.

Josh Hart's immediate and relatively distant future is officially accounted for thanks to a four-year, $81 million contract extension agreement with the New York Knicks. Locked up with the Knicks through the 2027-28 season, Hart is now free to partake in Team USA's exhibition showcase en route to the FIBA Basketball World Cup, which continues on Saturday against Slovenia (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1). 

Hart sat out of game one, a 117-74 win over Puerto Rico in Las Vegas, due to "rest," but it's become clear that he was simply waiting to put pen to paper ... or, at least, finger to iPad. The Villanova alum inked the deal on a training table in Malaga, the Spanish province where Team USA faces a weekend doubleheader, rather than Manhattan.

“It was actually pretty cool," Hart recalled to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. "I was just laying down on the training table, getting some treatment, on FaceTime with (wife Shannon) and signing the contract."

Hart's collegiate and professional teammate Jalen Brunson, having already inadvertently paid for one meal on Team USA's exhibition tour, let the newly-paid reserve know he was on the hook for their next outings, telling him to "pick up that tab" on X, formerly known as Twitter and later calling him "Bag Man" in a humorously uncomfortable staredown he posted to his Instagram story.

“Bag man”

Jalen Brunson trolling Knicks teammate Josh Hart after Hart signed a 4-year, $81 million contract extension 💰

(via @jalenbrunson1 / IG) pic.twitter.com/adUIlpTqFG

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 10, 2023

In any event, Hart has a home after serving as an Association nomad over his first six seasons: the Knicks were already his fourth team since he came over in the opening round of the 2017 NBA Draft. Becoming a major part of New York's late-season rotation after he came over in a trade deadline deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, Hart helped the Knicks lock up the fifth seed on the Eastern Conference playoff bracket as well as their first postseason series victory since 2013. The Knicks closed out the regular season on a 17-8 note with Hart in the lineup as he averaged 10.2 points and seven rebounds.

Hart has carried a sense of jubilant humor through his brief, extending Knicks tenure but couldn't help but get emotional when talking about the extension, which kicks in for the 2024-25 season after he'll play this year on a $12.9 million player option.

“It meant a lot," Hart said. "I wasn’t highly touted coming out of high school, wasn’t highly regarded in the draft, went through free agency the first time and I was restricted, it was a terrible experience for me, so to be able to do this, it’s a dream come true – just being able to have something that can take care of my parents, my family, my kids.

“So I mean, it’s hard to put into words. It’s really dope. My game, my style, my play, it’s not always the most glamorous, so it definitely shows that hard work pays off.”

Hart's services as a depth star could be called upon again this weekend in Malaga considering his relatively fresh state: after facing Luka Doncic's Slovenian group, Team USA will face defending World Cup champion Spain on Sunday. Despite not playing against Puerto Rico, he has already made a lasting impression on his American teammates.

“He’s just always consistent," Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards said of Hart during preparation in Las Vegas. "You know he’s going to bring that energy every day.”

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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