Josh Hart isn't your average NBA player, both from a play and personality standpoint. That's why the New York Knicks and their loyal fanbase love him so much.
With this, it shouldn't come as all that great of a shock for them to hear that the forward is opting not to fix his visibly distorted and physically achy ring finger on his right shooting hand, telling the folks at Posting and Toasting, "I'll let it go."
Hart has been dealing with this same nerve-related injury since the 2025 postseason, and even underwent a procedure on it last summer before aggravating it during that same year's training camp. The ailment impacted him all throughout this past campaign, though he repeatedly went on record to note that he was "not getting surgery.”
Of course, at the time these remarks were made, many believed he was simply writing off in-season operations, not surgery as a whole.
Usually, players take the downtime allotted to them during the offseason to focus on healing up and fully recovering their bodies following a long and arduous season. For someone like the hobbled Hart, who just played from late October to mid-June, he undoubtedly fits the criteria to do so.
His own teammate Jalen Brunson has certainly followed this general protocol.
In the end, as he does with his do-it-all brand of ball and in-game hijinks, Hart is choosing the unorthodox approach as he gears up for the Knicks' title defense tour.
Josh Hart had career year with Knicks despite having banged-up finger
While using the old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" slogan may be quite ironic in this instance, at the same time, that's kind of the mentality Hart seems to be adopting when it comes to his injury recovery.
Despite having a crooked finger on his shooting hand that, in his own words, has caused "tingling" and "a little bit of numbness," Hart finds himself coming off a career-best season in 2025-26, especially when it comes to his shooting efficiency.
Through 66 games played, the wing posted impressive all-around averages of 12.0 points, 7.4 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.1 steals while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor and a career-high 41.3 percent from deep.
On top of this, he also posted the second-best true shooting percentage and third-best offensive rating of his career at .612 and 122, respectively.
Frankly, given how he operated on the hardwood this past year, be it superstition or mere comfort, it makes sense that Hart would be reluctant to meddle with his dominant hand when the opportunity to help this Knicks team win back-to-back championships is up for grabs.
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