On the heels of the New York Knicks’ Sunday night victory over the Toronto Raptors, Josh Hart was asked by MSG Network’s Alan Hahn how he’s able to remain one of the NBA’s biggest x-factors game-to-game. His answer was just the right amount of indefinable.
"I just run around, and just kind of do whatever,” he told Hahn. “I just try to have a feel for the game. Every night, it’s a little bit different."
The Knicks better put “Just kind of do whatever” on the inscription beneath the Josh Hart statue that will inevitably be constructed outside Madison Square Garden. It is the perfect encapsulation of what he’s doing for the team while they navigate a could-have-been-debilitating absence from OG Anunoby, as well as a shoulder injury to Landry Shamet.
Heck, “just kind of do whatever” doesn’t only pertain to what Hart’s doing now. It has been his job description all along.
Josh Hart is wearing many hats for the Knicks
For all of his flaws, Hart is an incredibly valuable player. His ability to fill in so many various gaps is unmatched by anyone else on the team.
Need someone to crash the glass like a beast out-of-you-know-what? He can do that. Looking for someone to push the pace, on-ball, in transition? He’s got you. Short on secondary playmakers? Say less. And if he’s off the rock, he’ll try his darnedest to get behind defenses on the break.
Generating rim pressure from the wing position is a challenge. Not for Hart. On the break or inside the half-court, if you give him any sort of breathing room, he gets to the hoop. He has not ranked below the 75th percentile in the share of his shots coming at the rim since 2019-20.
Things get prickly if you need Hart to knock down wide-open threes. He can do it, but he’s hesitant to get them off, and delivers inconsistent results when he does.
Yet, after a freezing-cold start, he’s beginning to hit them now. Following a 4-of-7 clip from distance against the Raptors, he’s now canning 44.2 percent of his triples over the past 13 games, while attempting four a night.
This says nothing of the defense. Hart isn’t what you’d call lockdown. But he’s versatile, and relatively reliable. With the Knicks at a severe big-wing deficit while Anunoby recovers from his hamstring injury, it was Hart who shouldered a bulk of the reps against Giannis Antetokounmpo Friday night. And he was needed to rumble against Franz Wagner in games against the Orlando Magic.
It should come as no surprise that Hart ranks inside the 85th percentile of BBall Index’s defensive versatility metric. The breadth of his assignments covers so much ground—just like the man himself.
Josh Hart is imperfect—and the Knicks need him
Hart’s versatility extends beyond the court, too. He accepted a bench role to start the season. Even though he openly prefers the starter’s gig he has now, he’s repeatedly said he’ll do whatever it takes to help the Knicks win.
There’s that word again: whatever. It can ring hollow in certain contexts, or feel performative. Not with Hart. Not for the emotional heartbeat of a Knicks squad attempting to contend for a title. Certainly not from someone who joins Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Jalen Johnson as the only five players with an assist rate better than 20, defensive rebounding rate above 20, and true shooting percentage north of 60.
Rest assured, there will invariably come a time when Hart’s weaknesses bite the Knicks. Defenses aren’t suddenly going to guard him like he’s a five-alarm fire. The injury to his shooting hand still looms. The defense seesaws.
None of that’s enough to poke holes in Hart’s importance to New York. The Knicks won’t contend for a title without him. The man hard-wired to “just kind of do whatever” isn’t merely part of their identity. He’s among the only players qualified to shape and sustain it.