Josh Hart Discusses Bench Role and Why Adjustment Has Been Hard

The New York Knicks aren’t off to the start they were hoping for. After reaching the Eastern Conference Finals last season, they picked up a new coach and some solid bench players in hopes of taking the next step towards contending. 

Unfortunately, they don’t look like they’ve taken that step. They currently sit as the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 3-3. 

Josh Hart, a huge part of the Knicks' rotation last season, has seen his role diminish with the new coaching regime this season. 

He spoke about his struggles this season and said, "I think throughout the season it’ll be a battle of, you know, kind of fighting the egotistical view of it. I think I did have a good year last year. And you know, with a different role, now it’s totally different. I think the biggest thing, I’ve had to sacrifice my whole career. I talked about it the whole time last year. You know, that’s something that I try to do every year and try to make sure whether I’ve got to sacrifice or not, make the team the best that we can be. So it’s never like, OK cool and it’s seamless. There’s going to be days where I’m just like, ‘Man, that’s some bull.’ You know what I mean? But it’ll be a constant thing of fighting that, but making sure I know that this is what’s best for the team and locking in on that.”

Hart went from averaging 13.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 37.6 minutes last season to only averaging five points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. this season. 

Hart still has the right mentality despite his struggles. Still, last year Hart’s minutes helped bring the team just wins away from an NBA Finals appearance. Could increasing his role put the Knicks back on track this season?