Josh Hart not considering surgery as he adjusts to his new Knicks life

CHICAGO — Josh Hart isn’t getting surgery again. At least not now.

He said it plainly Friday as he continues to work through the issues involving the surgically repaired finger on his shooting hand.

Hart doesn’t want to start over by going under the knife again, despite obvious frustrations with his poor play this season. 

“For me, there probably will be a process until I get full feeling back,” Hart said, “and that hand will be what it is and shooting. … I’m working with [Knicks new shooting coach Peter Patton] all the time and that will come along. 

“So yeah, I’m not getting surgery.” 

The timeline of Hart’s busted finger was unfortunate. He suffered the initial injury in May during the playoffs, then played through it — not particularly well — and underwent surgery in the offseason. A setback occurred during a practice not long before training camp officially opened.

Now he’s left with a splint on his right index finger, discomfort around the hand and the possibility it won’t be fixed without another procedure. 

The circumstances prompted speculation that Hart would be better off getting the surgery ASAP so he’s ready for the important part of the season. His scoreless performance Friday — a 15-minute appearance that left Hart visibly dejected on the bench — only reinforced that idea. 

But the recovery would be months, not weeks, and there’s uncertainty about how his hand would respond to surgery. 

Plus, Hart remains confident his shot will be rediscovered through time, not another procedure. Although it’s been ugly through the opening four games — just 21 percent from the field overall and 10 percent on 3-pointers — there are several factors at play. Hart missed almost the entire preseason with a back ailment. He’s learning to adjust to the splint.

And, most glaringly, his role has been dramatically altered under Mike Brown. 

“I feel like I’ve got the biggest adjustment out of the whole team,” Hart said. “Just in terms of role, starting, not starting, how the minutes are gonna be, and I’ve gotta know every position, there’s gonna be times where I’m bringing the ball up, there’s gonna be times when I’m the five and there’s gonna be times where I’m the four. 

“So I literally have to know every play from every different position, and it’s one thing to know it in practice and go through it, but when it’s game pace, that’s the real test to it, so I’m still figuring that stuff out and it’s an adjustment. But this is my seventh coach, so I’ve had a lot of adjusting to do in my career, so should be solid.” 

Indeed, Hart has gone from leading the NBA in minutes under Tom Thibodeau to coming off the bench and playing a role he’s still very much getting accustomed to. In the first three games with Brown, Hart averaged 24.7 minutes — 13 less than last season — while trying to still impact winning with rebounding but fewer opportunities to discover a playmaking rhythm. 

Hart signed off on the reduced role, he had conversations with Brown about the minutes, among other things, but understands he’ll have to battle against his ego sometimes. 

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“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,” Hart said. “I mean, 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, okay 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 also revealed that he wouldn’t feel comfortable being the first replacement starter, meaning his role would vary game-to-game depending on injuries and decisions occurring as late as 30 minutes before tip-off. He’d rather just stick with being a reserve. After losing his offseason shooting workouts to the finger surgery, Hart wants to establish consistency. 

And if the shot is falling — especially the 3-pointer — Hart tends to stay on the court. We’ve seen it before in his Knicks tenure, whether as a reserve or starter. 

Hart believes he can get back to that place without another procedure. 

“For me, I knew it would take a little bit of time,” he said. “ Obviously, normally you’ve got the preseason to kind of get the wind under you. So I knew it was gonna take a minute to get back in shape and get my legs under me and be confident in some of those shots. So I figured I’d give myself a week, week-and-a-half of grace before I get too frustrated with myself, but for me it’s still getting into a good rhythm. New role, I’ve gotta know one through five, I’ve gotta know everything else. So it’s a little bit of a process and I’ve just gotta figure it out.”