New York Knicks forward Josh Hart addressed his evolving role and mindset during a press conference on Tuesday, June 2, ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. He reflected on reduced minutes earlier in the season and the mental challenges that came with it.
Responding to a question, Hart detailed the internal doubts that surfaced when his playing time changed. “No. I definitely didn’t see the bigger picture in those moments. There were moments I went home and I’m like, damn, am I ass? Like, do I suck as a basketball player? There’s a lot of those moments. Whenever your minutes go down or you get benched, you have that thought process. But for me, it was like, okay, how can I build off of it? How can I improve as a player to not put myself in that situation? And now I’m cool with it sometimes. I mean, there was Game 1, I got benched and Landry was out there hooping and I was happy about it. But that took a little bit of time and self-reflection to get to that point.”
Hart also pointed to how his approach shifted as the Knicks built toward a Finals run under consistent internal standards. “I think the attention to detail and approach is really the same. Because I think we truly believe we’ve been building championship habits since October. And when you truly believe that, nothing changes. Everything’s the same. And you really double down on those habits. So, nothing’s changed for us. Obviously, there’s this is like a zoo going on right now with all the media and all this stuff, but I think we’ll just focus on the task at hand and ready to get started for game one.”
The veteran forward also described the perspective he carries into high-profile environments like Madison Square Garden. Hart said, “I think before the national anthem of every game, I kind of take a couple seconds and embrace the situation God has put me in. I’m blessed to go out here and play a game. In the big picture, this is a game I get to do since I was a little kid having fun with. So, it’s a blessing I think about every single game. And it’s cool. It’s fun to be a Knick.”
Hart also opened up about his early relationships with teammates Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges, sharing a candid origin story from college. “I hated Jalen. I thought he was one of them annoying five-star recruits that come in entitled. Fortunately he was the opposite and we sparked a friendship and we’re still friends to this day.” He added, “Mikal was the same way. I hated him too. He came in, we obviously play similar position, especially in college. And he was weaker, more frail than I was, so he would grab me and I hated it.”
He continued with more detail on how those relationships developed over time. “I lived with Jalen his sophomore year… We just happened to become close just with that situation. He was still extremely annoying, but I got to be able to tolerate the annoyingness a little bit more because I had to deal with it every single day.”
