The New York Knicks have been one of the best teams in the NBA for the past two seasons, and this past year, they capped off their campaign with an NBA Championship. But what’s been the biggest X-factor for them? Well, OG Anunoby’s health. With him on the court, the Knicks are the best version of themselves, and they need him to avoid the injury bug in order for him to stay there.
Throughout the course of his career, Anunoby has been bitten by that bug plenty of times. Even during the playoffs this past year, he missed two games because of injury. But for the most part, he’s been the healthiest he’s ever been. For the past two seasons, the Knicks have gotten a healthy version of Anunoby, and it’s made all the difference.
And if they want to keep their spot as the top dog in the East, they need Anunoby to stay healthy and stay on the court.
Knicks need OG Anunoby to keep stsaying healthy
Anunoby has dealt with a ton of small issues over the years, and he’s missed a ton of games because of them. When the Knicks traded for him at the end of 2023, they knew that. They knew what they were getting into.
New York took that risk anyway. The Knicks knew the type of player Anunoby could be when he was on the court, and they were right. He’s a total game-changer.
During the 2025-26 playoffs, it was a hamstring issue that caused Anunoby to miss a couple of games. He was luckily able to be on the court in the Knicks’ biggest moments, as evidenced by Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
A hamstring injury hindered his ability to stay on the court during the Knicks’ 2024 playoff run, too. He missed four games, and the Knicks ultimately lost to the Indiana Pacers.
Anunoby missed a bunch of time in the regular season that year, too. He was dealing with an elbow injury, and he only ended up playing 50 games (27 with the Toronto Raptors and 23 with the Knicks).
The year before that, he played in 67 games, but in the two before that, he only played 48 and 43 games, respectively. But the Knicks and Anunoby have avoided too many major injury concerns the last two years.
In 2024-25, Anunoby appeared in 74 regular-season games and all 28 playoff games. Then, last year, he played in 67 regular-season games and 17 of 19 playoff games.
A healthy Anunoby is what the Knicks need, and if they want to remain competitive at the very highest level, they’ll need his health to stay in a good place.
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