On Saturday night, Jay Wright was in Red Bank, New Jersey, to attend the wedding of the daughter of his wife’s college roommate, doing what so many others were doing in the Tri-State Area – watching the NBA Finals on his phone.
The former Villanova coach watched the first half of Game 5 inside the reception, but as the fourth quarter played out, he searched for somewhere away from the crowd to watch the Knicks and the Spurs.
Which is how Wright – the man who first put Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges together on a team – came to watch his former players capture the NBA championship from the front seat of his car, with no one around him but his wife, Patty.
He couldn’t have drawn it up better if he tried.
As New York wakes up from its two-day weekend bender to a glorious Monday with their Knicks as NBA champions, Wright is only now emerging from his own personal media blockade. He had declined interview requests and deflected attention throughout the playoffs; he even tried to beg out of going to Game 4, reluctantly agreeing to go to the Garden only after Jalen’s dad and Knicks’ assistant Rick Brunson insisted.
