ESPN personality and known New York Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith sounded thrilled about his team’s latest trade acquisition. His 2016 self probably wouldn’t have been as ecstatic.
On Tuesday, the Knicks and Nets agreed to a deal to send Mikal Bridges to the Knicks in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic and a boatload of first-round picks. The exchange helped land Smith’s beloved Knicks yet another Villanova Wildcat from the mid-2010s.
Bridges will join a Knicks roster that already includes his former teammates and fellow NCAA champions Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo.
The move drew immediate praise from Smith, who posted a video on X celebrating the deal.
https://t.co/cS8dL5GFSC pic.twitter.com/f9f6MblDmT
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) June 26, 2024
But a different clip of Smith, one from 2016, went viral on social media shortly after news of the Knicks-Nets trade went public. The video showed Smith belittling Villanova ahead of their 2016 NCAA title game against North Carolina.
“Villanova doesn’t have a real NBA prospect on this squad,” Smith had said at the time.
“Villanova doesn’t have a real NBA prospect on this squad”
Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo are all players from that 2016 Nova squad that are now on the Knicks
pic.twitter.com/sjCi3bjHWR— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) June 26, 2024
Villanova not only won the 2016 title over the Tar Heels, but they also went on to prove Smith’s NBA take completely wrong.
The 2016 Wildcats had six players make it to the NBA.
Aside from the Knicks’ current Villanova foursome, Ryan Arcidiacono has managed to carve out a seven-year career so far. He played for the Knicks last season and was actually on the team even before the arrival of Jalen Brunson. The 2016 Wildcats’ starting center Daniel Ochefu also had a cup of coffee with the Washington Wizards during the 2016-17 campaign.
