New Orleans Pelicans: Josh Hart is an Underrated Glue Guy

Josh Hart provides the New Orleans Pelicans with a “do it all” player whose contributions raise the team’s floor.

While it’s easy for fans to focus on players who frequently make ESPN Top Ten, the unsung guys are the one’s usually doing the dirty work and sacrificing individual numbers for the good of the team. The New Orleans Pelicans’ Josh Hart certainty fits that description.

The Pedigree

A four-year player at Villanova, Hart was drafted with the 30th pick in the 2017 draft. While in school he was a two-time Big East First Team Player (2016 & 2017), All-American (2017), sixth man of the year (2015) and National Champion in 2016.

In college he played with a ton of future NBA players, with four players on those rosters going on to play in the league in each of his four years at school. None of the players on those teams are stars in the NBA but most are solid contributors to good teams (Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Eric Paschall and Donte DiVincenzo).

Hart fits the same mold as those players, someone willing to do a little of everything so their teammates can focus on what they do best. Any team that has championship aspirations needs this person with them to get the most out of their team.

While they don’t grab the newspaper headlines, glue guys keep their team together and focused on winning. Hart’s podcast has gotten more headlines than his play for the New Orleans Pelicans this year, which is testament to just how underrated he is.

Role Players Matter

Some fans may think that being called the glue guy is a bad thing, that those players matter less to winning than the stars, but the glue guy often defends one of the opponents’ better players and sacrifices scoring on the other end.

Or as Shane Battier puts it, “Often relied on to do the things nobody notices to help win games.”

Hart is a glue guy on defense, guarding bigger guys, diving for loose balls and doing things that don’t show up in the defensive stat sheets or highlights.

But Josh Hart isn’t all defense.

Hart is a good all-around player who has improved every aspect of his game, which is why he’s been given more responsibility within the offense every season.

Hart has been asked to become more of a secondary play-maker behind Lonzo Ball and Jrue Holiday this season. When sharing the floor with both of them, Hart becomes someone to kick the ball out to for an open shot.

Hart is never going to be the first option, but he’s ready on offense when his number is called.

But there is one thing Josh Hart does better than almost any guard in the NBA.