A New York Knicks star has incurred a new injury during the 2025 preseason, which has put his immediate fate in question.
Knicks shooting guard Josh Hart — who's in the second year of a four-season, $80.9 million deal he inked in the summer of 2023 — has been somewhat snakebitten this offseason.
The 6-foot-4 Villanova product is already slated to spend most or even all of 2025-26 wearing a splint on the ring finger for his right shooting hand.
The hits keep coming for Hart
But that's not even the biggest issue in his short-term future. Instead, his preseason health issues continue to pile up.
Per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post, Hart fell to the floor with a back injury during the first half of an eventual 99-84 win in its preseason opener Thursday against the loathed Philadelphia 76ers.
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Hart was held out of the Knicks' eventual 113-104 victory in a rematch against Philadelphia on Saturday. New York called the issue "spasms."
In 77 healthy regular season games for the 51-31 Knicks last year (all starts, although that would change as the playoffs progressed), the 30-year-old Hart averaged 13.6 points on .525/.333/.776 shooting splits, 9.6 rebounds, 5.9 dishes and 1.5 swipes per.
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“It’s preseason and we’re going to err on the side of caution,” a Knicks representative said of the Hart ailment. “We’ll see where he is when [we get home].”
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With Hart out for all of Game 2 and much of Game 1, new head coach Mike Brown promoted backup center Mitchell Robinson into his starting five, shifting five-time All-Star 7-footer Karl-Anthony Towns to a power forward role.
Three Knicks starters scored in double figures in 17 minutes apiece on Saturday. All-Defensive wing Mikal Bridges chipped in 10 points on 4-of-4 field goal shooting and 2-of-2 free throw shootning. Another All-Defensive forward, OG Anunoby, scored 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting (3-of-5 from distance) and 2-of-2 free throw shooting, plus two boards, one steal and an assist.
All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson led all comers with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor (1-of-4 from beyond the arc).
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