Jalen Brunson's Knicks teammate drops truth bomb about origins of moniker 'Michael Jordan of Delaware': "Wasn't really a compliment"
New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson and teammate Josh Hart started a podcast in February. In their most recent episode, they had their former Villanova and current Knicks teammate Donte DiVincenzo as their guest. The Knicks opened up about how DiVincenzo got the nickname "Michael Jordan of Delaware."
During DiVincenzo's time with Salesianum School, he led his team to two consecutive state championships. DiVincenzo then moved on to Villanova. Donte's new coach, Jay Wright, then gave him the moniker "Michael Jordan of Delaware" as a welcome gift.
At the time, DiVincenzo wasn't too happy with the nickname given how Jordan was a fierce competitor in the NBA. He mentioned that it completely contrasted his personality in high school. Then, there was also the fact that his coach didn't mean for the title to be a compliment.
"That wasn't really a compliment," DiVincenzo said. "I thought I was nice in high school. So I go to (Villanova), and coach is like 'Who do you think you are? Michael Jordan of Delaware?' Then, it turned into a compliment and then just ran with it."
How did Jalen Brunson's former Villanova teammate get the nickname 'Michael Jordan of Delaware'?
Back in their college basketball days, current New York Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart were all members of the Villanova Wildcats. All three played together and found success, winning an NCAA championship in 2016. Hart then got drafted into the NBA in 2017 while Brunson and DiVincenzo carried on and won one more NCAA title in 2018.
However, it wasn't always rainbows and sunshine for DiVincenzo with the Wildcats. When DiVincenzo made his way into the team, Villanova coach Jay Wright wasn't amused by the way the former Delaware player behaved. According to several sources, Wright deemed DiVincenzo as overconfident and despised his bad habits on the hardwood.
Aware of DiVincenzo's achievements with Salesianum School, Wright sarcastically called him the "Michael Jordan of Delaware." Despite the coach aiming to throw shade with the nickname, fans made sense out of it considering how he was the high school hero in Delaware. Eventually, what started as an insult evolved into one of the highest honors for DiVincenzo.
Fast forward to the present day, Donte DiVincenzo is playing arguably his best season yet with the New York Knicks alongside Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. DiVincenzo is averaging a career-high 13.9 points and shooting a career-high 41.6% from behind the arc. His efforts have helped Brunson keep the Knicks within the top teams in the Eastern Conference.