“Told His Guys to Defend Better”: Josh Hart’s Response to Pistons’ Monty Williams Draws ‘Wild’ NBA Twitter Reactions

The Detroit Pistons were handed a crushing loss at the hands of the New York Knicks tonight. The Knicks finished the game defeating the Pistons by a 25-point margin by the end of regulation. A resounding win for New York ended in a bitter loss for Detroit. After the game, Pistons head coach expressed his displeasure with DiVincenzo’s stat padding in tonight’s outing, only to get a quick-witted response from Josh Hart.

The New York Knicks valiantly defended homecourt against the Detroit Pistons as they came out on top with a 124-99 final score. The ball game also featured Donte DiVincenzo setting a new franchise record for the Knicks, knocking down 11 threes through the four quarters.

It was a rewarding night for Knicks fans witnessing history being made in front of them. However, that wasn’t the case for Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams who voiced his infuriation over Donte DiVincenzo running up his stats during a one-sided game for most of the four quarters.

After the game, Monty Williams took some time to speak to the media about tonight’s loss as well as Donte DiVincenzo knocking down 11 threes in the game. 

“I don’t care about their team. I couldn’t care less. Those guys, the way they got those 3s. I don’t want to be a part of that story.”

After Monty Williams’ statement, New York Knicks guard Josh Hart decided to give his two cents regarding the statement from the opposing team’s head coach.

“If he didn’t wanna be part of the story, he should’ve told his guys to defend better.”

The initial statement made by Monty Williams came from a head coach’s perspective. No coach wants to see the will beaten out of his young players on the team and certainly would not want his team to get stomped upon when there is already a huge disparity between both teams.

However, Josh Hart’s response regarding Williams’ statement came from an athlete who was competing in the NBA, a league widely considered the best basketball league around the globe. But that clever response from Hart suggesting Williams urge his players to defend better sure has drawn some interesting reactions from fans on the internet.

Fans lose it over Josh Hart’s response

New York Knicks guard Josh Hart’s response to Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams’ statement was nothing short of astute. And as hard as it is to side with one of the two, fans on the other hand seem to have made their own decision.

One fan on X tweeted, “Monty Williams went from one of the best coaches in the nba to a meme.”

While another fan commented, “Monty Williams is robbing the Pistons with no weapon. Worst Coach in the league hands down right now.”

Here are a few more reactions from fans on X.

“Monty need to worry about what college he gonna assistant coach next year tbh.”

“You want a good sound byte… Look no further than Josh Hart. Literally almost nightly.”

“Josh hart cooked him.”

It seems as if a lot of fans in the comments section were more impressed with Jos Hart’s savage response while the other half heavily criticized Monty Williams and what he has been doing to the Detroit Pistons squad this year.

The Pistons have the worst record in the league at 12-60. While this year may have been a disappointing one for Motor City fans, one silver lining is the team’s chances of getting another top prospect in the upcoming draft class. So, the Pistons may fare well in the long term instead of chasing short-term success.