Josh Hart’s pregame nutrition won’t be taught in any health classes, but hey, it works for him
The Knicks star may be a nutritionist’s worst nightmare when it comes to his massive caffeine and sugar intake before games.
In fact, he joked that he and team nutritionist Erika Whitman “have fights” about it.
But it’s hard to argue that the massive amounts of caffeine and sugar aren’t helping after Hart has averaged a series-high 44.7 minutes per game and been a dominant force along the boards in the final minutes of games.
So what exactly is the pregame routine he has for every game?
“I get about 300-400 milligrams of caffeine (before the game). Mike and Ikes. And then I’m like, let’s get ready to run around,” Hart said.
Hart said he doesn’t run during the offseason, but it has helped that he is playing such large swaths of time during the regular season.
“Luckily, I never let myself get too out of shape,” Hart said. “When you run like a bat out of hell for 81 games for 40 minutes, you are in pretty good condition.”
Of course, the caffeine and candy must help, too.
Hart’s love of Mike & Ikes is well known to the point that the candy brand even sent him a box of the sweet treat with his face on it.
He posted an image of himself holding the personalized box to X with the caption, “My dream has come true! @mikeandike big things coming.”
His love affair with the candy goes back to high school, and Hart told The Post in December that he had to go to extreme lengths to get his fill while playing at Villanova in college.
“I’d dump a box of Mike & Ike in my parka. Because if they ever saw me with it, they’d make me throw it out. So I had to sneak it and hide it,” he said at the time.
The star has a chance to help the Knicks close out the series Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden after they defeated the Sixers over the weekend in Game 4 at Wells Fargo Center.
The Knicks haven’t made it beyond the first round in consecutive seasons since they did so in 1999 — making it to the NBA Finals — and then again in 2000 when they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals.
