The New York Knicks star takes blame for Josh Hart's problems

New York Knicks captain Jalen Brunson is already going down with a certain ship.

After forward/guard Josh Hart claimed that he was “lost” after a wayward preseason (h/t Stefan Bondy, New York Post), Brunson blamed himself for such a comment, lamenting that he was “lost” during the Knicks' five had not been a better navigator – game exhibition board.

“I need to be a better leader and make sure he’s ready to go in the first game. It’s up to me,” Brunson said, according to Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “I feel like Josh is a very selfless person.” Sometimes he might think, “I need to get someone else involved.” But from my perspective, I just feel like we need to get better as teammates to make sure that we are all on the same wavelength, otherwise we will still give each other self-confidence. It starts with me.”

Brunson and Hart form one of the league's most renowned tandems, as the pair's friendship, which began at Villanova, is well-documented. The duo, of course, co-hosts the Roommates Show podcast with mutual friend Matt Hillman, and both stayed healthy enough to lead the Knicks to 50 wins and a second seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs last season.

Hart is expected to be a full-time starter this time around, but scored just two goals in four pre-season appearances. It got to the point where Hart even hinted that he might have to come off the bench, although that's likely a moot point after the Knicks received bad news about Precious Achiuwa being out at least two weeks with a hamstring problem.

New York faces immediate challenges as it opens the 2024-25 season this week: They will open Tuesday night in Boston (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT) before hosting Indiana in the home opener. Head coach Tom Thibodeau expressed no concern about Hart's issues in Braziller's report, saying he planned to use him in both the first and second regiments because of his valuable “versatility.”

“We are a new team and are in pre-season preparation, so there is still a lot to clarify for all of us. He's fine. It's the same role he always had. “That role is not changing,” Thibodeau said. “He'll play with both units.” That's what I always liked about his game, his versatility. The same goes for everyone.”

I like that we can mix and match. We have people on the bench who are basically starters. I like this aspect of our team. Just go out there and get better every day. The better you practice, the better you will play. It’s really pretty simple.”

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