Getting ready for his 10th NBA year and fourth full season with the Knicks, a number from Josh Hart’s 2025–26 season looks like it could be an outlier. That would be his 3-point percentage, which was easily a career best for him last season.
Speaking to the NY Daily News, Stefan Valdes—Josh Hart’s trainer—gave a reason for his improved accuracy from deep.
“I would say no matter how many minutes he plays, he’s going to give you the same output—but he had fresher legs,” Valdes said. “So fresher legs allow his body to be more efficient. That’s why he averaged 41 percent from 3 [this year] compared to 33 percent the year before when he was playing so many minutes. So you have fresher legs. You're taking just as many shots, but you're making more because you have less fatigue."
Hart will likely have a chance to prove Valdes right in 2026–27, as his minutes shouldn’t return to what they were during his first couple of years in New York.
Did fewer minutes for Hart result in more accurate 3-point shooting?
Oh, Tom Thibodeau. Throughout his coaching career, Thibodeau has certainly been known to play his stars a lot of minutes. In Thibs’ last season as head coach of the Knicks, 2024–25, Hart led the league in minutes per game at 37.6. He knocked down exactly one-third of his 3-point attempts.
Fast-forward a year, and the 31-year-old connected on 41.3% of his attempts from beyond the arc. Hart also played more than seven fewer minutes per game (30.2). The less playing time coincided with Mike Brown taking over for Thibodeau as head coach.
Valdes is correct in stating that, even in less time on the floor, Hart took just as many shots. As a matter of fact, he took more: 3.7 3-point attempts per game in 2025–26 compared with 3.3 in 2024–25. He got even better during the last month and a half of the regular season, but Hart did make just 32.6% of his attempts during the postseason run.
However, Valdes didn’t mention Hart’s work with Peter Patton, who was hired by Mike Brown as a shooting coach. Hart credited Patton early in the season for his improved accuracy.
There were years prior to joining the Knicks—particularly with the Lakers and Pelicans—when Hart attempted more 3-pointers per game while playing fewer than 30 minutes per contest. He was below the league average with his accuracy in those seasons.
Perhaps, as he has gotten older, Hart has worked on his shot enough for it to become a positive. Also, now that he is in his 30s, and given the relentless energy with which he plays, fewer minutes should allow him to have fresher legs for those outside shots.
It will be interesting to see if Hart can shoot better than 40% from 3-point range again in 2026–27, something he never accomplished during his first eight seasons. Even if he can't, he's shown the true impact is in his willingness to take them.
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