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As the New York Knicks face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night in a huge test for the team, a key piece to the group is star Josh Hart who spoke about his run-ins with the officiating crew. While Hart is known for his bevy of minutes with the Knicks, he has also seen his fair share of technical fouls, something he's looking to improve in toning down.
Hart leads New York with six technical fouls by a wide margin and got another in the 112-98 win over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night. He would even go as far as to contact a referee after the game to further understand the reasoning since he expressed that he is “trying to work on it” according to the New York Post.
“Some of the techs I got, I haven’t even cursed so I kind of been surprised by them,” Hart said. “So I’m not going to say what ref but I asked him, ‘Do I have a bad reputation? Or what? Man-to-man, let me know. Because I’m trying to work on it.’
“And he was just like, ‘No, you’re an amazing competitor. But sometimes in the heat of competition, it’s like you’re against us, too,” Hart continued. “Like you look at it 8 on 5.’ Which I do sometimes. So I think my complaining and getting techs hurts us. We’re giving them free points or the ball or whatever it is and those kind of things. So it’s just something I’m trying to be more cognizant of and work on.”
Josh Hart on his role with the Knicks
The win over the Raptors was needed, especially after the Knicks lost to the banged up Orlando Magic as Hart finished Wednesday's game with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. Hart also spoke about his role with the team and kept it straight-forward as being a “servant” for players like Jalen Brunson or Karl-Anthony Towns according to SNY.
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“To be a servant for these guys,” Hart said. “To make sure JB [Brunson] and KAT [Towns] are in the right situations, to find them when they’re open. So they don’t gotta work so hard. To make sure Mikal [Bridges] and OG [Anunoby] are playing well, getting open shots, getting good shots. And making sure these guys reach their goals and their accomplishments. And get All-Star love and those kind of things. “I think I’m most happy that those guys are playing well and that’s something that I want to continue to do.”
Hart would play 38 minutes in the game which has long been a question of head coach Tom Thibodeau and the time management as the star is tired of the narrative.
“Every year, it’s the same thing. We do the same thing as always. We have a couple bad games, a couple losses in a row and all y'all cry about minutes, be the minute police and all that,” Hart said. “That’s all outside noise. We’re gonna play the game the way we’re supposed to play it. We’re gonna play as hard as we can when we’re out there.
“I want to be out there (playing big minutes), myself personally,” Hart continued. “So it’s just noise.”
The Knicks are 25-13 which puts them third in the Eastern Conference as they next face the Thunder on Friday.
