Josh Hart questioned his role with the Knicks. Now he’s on pace for a career year

Josh Hart, with several microphones, cameras and recorders in his face, pondered the idea of coming off the bench.

It was after the New York Knicks’ final preseason game in Washington D.C., and the veteran finished the exhibition slate scoring just two points, shooting only six shots and handing out 12 assists in 90 total minutes. Hart’s face matched his words, suggesting his confusion with how he’d fit into a team that added several big figures in the offseason. He questioned whether he’d ever find a rhythm playing with so many players who needed the ball. It felt like a vulnerable moment on the doorstep of what many were expecting to be the most anticipated season in recent franchise history.

“I’m lost,” Hart said after the game. “I got no idea. Like I said, there are a couple of days we have before (the season opener against) Boston to try and let us get into a rhythm with the starting unit or maybe give someone else a look and my role changes and I come off the bench. Just trying to figure it out right now … I don’t have much of an idea. Hopefully I’ll figure it out.”

Soon after Hart’s comments, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was told what was said. Thibodeau didn’t have much to say in response. His reaction was short and almost dismissive, as if he didn’t care how one of his players felt. But that wasn’t the case.

Fast forward to Tuesday night, the 10th game of the regular season and a performance that saw Hart record a triple-double and score in double figures for the 10th time this season. Thibodeau was asked about those comments Hart made in the preseason and his reaction to it.

“A lot of what he says, you have to let go in one ear and out the other,” Thibodeau said with a smile. “He likes to hear himself talk. With that being said, I love Josh.”

Hart is both insightful and real. He’s also a jokester and, if you ask around, can be a bit dramatic, but in the most playful way possible. He’s also on pace for a career year offensively. Hart is averaging 13.8 points (which would be the second highest scoring average in his eight-year career) while shooting 9.0 shots per game (second highest mark in his career) with a career-best 68 true shooting percentage. Oh, and he’s on pace to average a career-best 5.6 assists too.

Hart prefers to save his best basketball for when it matters. His preseason stats tend to always be subdued. In college, he didn’t love to practice.

“He still doesn’t,” Hart’s friend and former Villanova and Knicks teammate Ryan Arcidiacono said with a laugh via telephone.

Hart, who continues to be an elite rebounder for his size, has had no problem fitting into New York’s new-look starting group because he continues to do what he’s always done — create scoring opportunities in transition, get to the rim in the half court and finish with top-shelf efficiency or find a teammate for a good shot. Hart has made a successful pro career by doing the little things, by making his own luck with his natural basketball instincts and hard-nosed play. Everyone who has been around Hart knows he’ll find a way to impact the game, and no one knows better than Thibodeau and his teammates, who also brushed off his preseason comments.

Through 10 games, Hart is averaging 1.31 points per possession in transition, per NBA.com, which ranks 11th in the NBA when examining players who have played in at least 10 games and average at least 3.0 transition possessions per game. Furthermore, Hart is scoring 1.65 points per cut, which ranks ninth in the entire NBA. His 76.8 percent clip on 2-pointers leads the entire NBA.

Hart has established himself as one of the NBA’s elite glue guys offensively. Similar to players such as Draymond Green or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — players who have never been the top options on their teams but have been a significant reason why their teams have won at a high level —Hart, too, impacts winning by making sure he makes use of the opportunities he receives by taking efficient shots, making on-time and on-target passes and bending defenses without the ball.

“Teams that have always won have players who fit that mold,” Hart said. “Teams now are trying to focus on getting their couple of stars and then find those guys who fit around them. You look at Boston, and they have their (star guys) and then they have Jrue (Holiday), who has been an All-Star in the league, All-NBA player, and he fits that role of playing defense, rebounding and getting guys in position to be successful. And then if he needs to, he can score with the best of them. … I think (the appreciation for glue guys) has always been there, but it’s starting to get a little bit more love now.”

No one in the Knicks’ organization believed what Hart said in the preseason because his track record speaks more loudly. The case could be made that very few players in the NBA would better fit alongside the likes of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges than Hart. Every top-heavy team needs a low-maintenance player who can create their own opportunities but focus on connecting those around them.

Hart is that for New York. As people around him have said, he just likes to hear himself talk.

“I’m still lost,” Hart said while smiling after Tuesday’s triple-double. “I’m still trying to find my way.”

(Photo: Bill Streicher / Imagn Images)