How Knicks' Josh Hart is building unique case for first All-Star selection

01/27/2025 10:30 AM

The New York Knicks are the only team in the NBA with two All-Star starters, which is pretty fair considering how effective their starting unit has been. The Knicks starting five have played significantly more minutes than any other five-man lineup in the NBA, and they still boast a +4.2 net rating. But considering how well Josh Hart is playing, and how big of an impact he’s having on New York’s winning ways, maybe they deserve to have a third All-Star as a member of the reserves.

Josh Hart’s case for his first All-Star selection

Hart is having a career year for the Knicks. He’s nearly averaging a double-double with 14.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. He’s also already registered a career-high six triple doubles, and the Knicks are unsurprisingly 6-0 when he does so.

Impressively, Hart is currently 17th in rebounding in the NBA, despite the fact he’s only six-foot-four. He is the only player in the top-50 that’s under six-foot-six, and one of just three players under six-foot-10 in the top-20.

Hart also ranks third in minutes per game, 12th in steals per game, and 17th in field goal percentage. He is also a significantly improved three-point shooter. After sinking just 31% of his three-point attempts last season, Hart is up to 36.4% this season.

When looking at all this from a different lens, Hart is one of only two players so far this season with 600 or more points, 400 or more rebounds, 250 or more assists, and 50 or more steals. The other player? None other than the MVP-favorite, Denver Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic.

Who is Josh Hart competing with for an All-Star spot?

The only problem with Hart joining the All-Star team is that the selection will not be made in a vacuum. Starters aside, Hart is competing with Tyrese Maxey, Damian Lillard, Cade Cunningham, Paolo Banchero, Tyler Herro, Jaylen Brown, Trae Young, and Darius Garland (among others) for a spot. All of those players are the first or second option on playoff teams in the Eastern Conference. Hart is not that.

Much of Hart’s appeal is difficult to document. Sure, he grabs rebounds, but his best traits are his hustle and motor. Like Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason before him, he never stops pursuing the basketball. He’ll dive on the floor and into the stands with little to no regard for his body.

And most importantly, when he controls a defensive rebound, he furiously pushes the ball up the floor. It’s a simple skill to explain, but it’s rarer than you’d think. And he regularly turns self-created fast breaks into buckets for himself and his teammates.

What are Josh Hart’s chances of making the All-Star team?

Admittedly, Hart is unlikely to join the All-Stars in Indianapolis. There are simply too many talented players with more appealing skillsets than him. In fact, a player like Hart hasn’t been named to an All-Star team since Draymond Green made the roster back in 2019.

But while unlikely, there is local history of it happening for the Knicks, at least once. Oakley was named to an All-Star team while playing for the Knicks in 1994, a feat he accomplished on the back of a first-team All-Defensive season. And while Hart is very unlikely to achieve first-team All-Defense, it speaks to the idea that you don’t have to be a top scorer to be an All-Star, especially if you play in New York.

It doesn’t really impact the Knicks, and it certainly doesn’t impact winning or success. But Hart being named an All-Star would validate what’s made New York successful—camaraderie, chemistry, and grit. And that’s exactly what Hart’s about. Is that enough to be named an All-Star? Absolutely not. But that and some very special performances might be enough.

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