NEED TO KNOW

• Shannon Hart, wife of New York Knicks star Josh Hart, spoke with PEOPLE before Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals about the superstition she follows during his games
• The Knicks wife explained that she only taps into this ritual when the basketball star is at the free throw line during the best-of-seven championship series
• Hart and the Knicks are looking to win the championship when they face the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 on Saturday, June 13

Karl-Anthony Towns's fiancée Jordyn Woods isn't the only Knicks WAG with a "lucky" superstition during the NBA Finals — Josh Hart's wife, Shannon, has a unique one of her own to get through the championship series.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE ahead of Game 5 on Saturday, June 13, Shannon revealed the hard-to-believe ritual she follows while watching her husband of nearly five years shoot free throws during the NBA Finals: "I have to look away," she admits.

"I used to do these little spirit finger things [during his free throws] and then he started missing all the time, so I was like, 'Okay, that's not working.' That started at Villanova because that was the thing," says Shannon, who spoke with PEOPLE the day before Game 5 on behalf of her partnership with Reese's.

"There was one time I was like, 'I'm just going to look away because I cannot watch him miss again.' So I looked away and he started making them!" she shares. "So now I have to look away. I cannot look until the ball rolls off of his hand."

The only way she knows if Josh's bucket is good, is by "going off of what the crowd's reaction is like," she explains.

Shannon has teamed up with Reese's in honor of the brand's special mashup with Oreo for a bold blue-and-orange packaging for the cookie snacks inside. The partnership was a perfect fit for the Knicks wife, who is no stranger to the color scheme.

"We've been wearing orange and blue day after day after day. So, it's a perfect match with our outfits with the colors of the city," says Shannon, who actually rocked a custom Reese's jacket to the Knicks game with her friend, Ali Brunson (Jalen Brunson's wife), at Madison Square Garden for Game 4.

She adds, "It's just been great and it's delicious!"

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Similar to Woods' lucky bag, Shannon has a purse of her own that she's bringing with her for good luck in San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday. She also has jewelry that she incorporates into her game-day looks, which include a special detail in tribute to her husband.

"For me, I always wear this cross necklace. I wouldn't take it off," she tells PEOPLE. "And then something that has my husband's name on it... I actually had this purse last game, I'm not trying to copy Jordyn or anything, but it was a crazy win so I'm bringing it this time."

"It's this blue YSL purse that I brought last time," she explains of the bag she's bringing with her to the matchup in San Antonio on Saturday, where her husband the Knicks hope to close out the Spurs to secure the championship.

"Obviously, you saw what happened last time," she says of the Knicks' epic comeback win in Game 4, adding, "So I'm like, I have to run that back because why wouldn't I?"

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NEED TO KNOW

• Ali Brunson revealed to PEOPLE exclusively the superstitious strategy she performs when her husband, Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks, plays in the 2026 NBA Finals
• The NBA wife explained why she tries to get in the same breathing rhythm as the Knicks guard
• The Knicks take on the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 on Saturday, June 13

Whatever works!

Ali Brunson spoke with PEOPLE exclusively ahead of Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals about the superstitious strategy she has in place while watching her New York Knicks husband, Jalen Brunson, play in the best-of-seven championship series.

Specifically, Ali — who caught up with PEOPLE on behalf of her partnership with Reese's — says her tactical breath work is activated only when Brunson, 29, is at the line for free throws, not throughout the entire game.

"Just related to his free throws. When he's on the line... he takes a deep breath. He's trying to slow his pace down a little bit," Ali says of Brunson during the interview on Friday, June 12, one day before the Knicks take on the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 at the Frost Bank Center in Texas.

"And so, I try to match my breath up to when he's breathing. I feel like it's helping him make the shot," shares the NBA wife, who jokes that "everyone's going to be watching [Jalen] breathe now" when he's at the free throw line.

"It's a little thing," she adds. "This superstitious stuff is just getting too much."

Elsewhere in the conversation, Ali — who wed Brunson, her high school sweetheart, in 2023 — spoke about her partnership with Reese's Oreo, which tastefully fits into the orange and blue conversation of the Knicks with its packaging.

"The energy in the city is different. Orange and blue is everywhere. It's just been hyped up to a new level," Ali says of Knicks mania amid the thrilling NBA Finals. "These iconic colors that we're seeing everywhere for weeks... It just made the most sense."

As for whether Ali is already savoring the possibility of a championship heading into Game 5 — a win that would deliver the coveted Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy to the Knicks — she's staying confident but measured.

"There's such good energy going around the city right now. We can feel it," Ali says. "I feel positive vibes the whole way, play-by-play, possession-by-possession. We can see that they can fight their way back, so no stress."

Ali confirms, "They'll make it happen."

The longtime couple's love story began at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill., in October 2013. Nearly two years later, Brunson posted pictures of the two attending their senior prom together on Instagram in May 2015.

While Brunson attended Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where he played Division I basketball, Ali stayed close to home at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, according to her LinkedIn. She studied kinesiology and exercise science, and graduated in 2017.

Ali attended Northwestern University the following year, where she received her doctorate in physical therapy in 2021. The pair dated long-distance while they both attended college. Brunson was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 2018.

The Knicks star proposed to Ali at their high school gym in September 2022.

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"She's always been by my side and I'm lucky to have her,” Brunson said of Ali after they wed in 2023. “I'm excited to celebrate this special milestone with all of our closest friends and family, who have been so supportive over the many years of our relationship."

The couple welcomed their daughter, Jordyn James Brunson, on July 31, 2024.

Read the original article on People