Josh Hart’s finger remains a lingering concern as the Knicks open training camp at their Tarrytown facility.
The veteran wing underwent a procedure in June to repair the ring finger on his right hand but revealed Tuesday at Knicks Media Day that he re-aggravated the injury during the offseason. He now expects to play the entire 2025–26 campaign with the finger in a splint.
“I’m just trying to get used to it, and then get through the season with it,” Hart said. “I don’t wanna go into too much detail, but I obviously got a procedure on it and then kinda re-aggravated it somewhat recently. So probably just rock out with a splint this season and try to fix it again next summer.”
Whether the injury will affect his performance remains to be seen.
“I hope not. I’m still trying to figure it out. Me personally, I hate playing with anything on my hand. I don’t feel like I have a good feel for it,” he said. “It might take a little getting used to, but that’s the best scenario for me right now and I want to be out there with these guys and I’m going to do everything I can to be out there with these guys.”
Hart said he’ll aim to adjust during the season before revisiting the idea of surgery before the next offseason — which could spell trouble as he’s a key piece on a Knicks team competing for a title this year.
“It’s something that a lot of people have it. I don’t think about it too much. I just try to go out there and play how I play, and if I can’t play how I play and be aggressive and kind of have that toughness mentality I normally play with, then I have to figure out a different path,” he said. “But right now, the full expectation is to go out there and hoop and help this team be successful and at the end of the year — [maybe I will get surgery] when I have some downtime and I actually know what’s wrong instead of last year thinking it was one thing and then taking a break and getting back into basketball and it was worse than I thought.
“With that being said, I’ll be good.”
Hart is coming off a career year, averaging 13.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game while finishing second in the league in total minutes behind only Mikal Bridges. Still, his status in the starting lineup remains fluid as the Knicks transition from Tom Thibodeau to new head coach Mike Brown.
Thibodeau started Hart for the entirety of the 2024-25 season but turned to Mitchell Robinson in the starting five after the Knicks fell into an 0–2 hole in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers. Brown has emphasized a desire to play fast — a style that suits Hart’s physical, uptempo game — but has yet to define his starting lineup.
“If I don’t start, I’ll probably ask for a trade, go somewhere else,” Hart joked.
“Nah — I had the best year of my career last year, but that’s in the past. I think I’m a starter in the league. I think I deserve to be a starter in the league, but at the end of the day, it’s what’s best for the team,” he said. “Last year, I talked about sacrifice the whole time and kind of being that separate mentality and being a good steward of my gifts and those kinds of things. So I think it would be extremely selfish for me to go out there and demand to start and all those kinds of things.
“So, whatever Mike wants to do or doesn’t wanna do, I’m cool with. And time will tell what that is, but I’m gonna figure it out. I’ll figure it out.”
