The New York Knicks are now on the verge of an NBA championship, and while stars often grab the headlines, LeBron James believes one of the team’s most important players is someone who impacts the game in ways that don’t always show up on the scoreboard.
James singled out Knicks guard Josh Hart and praised the all-around impact he has on winning.
“You got the wild card in Josh Hart, he’s like a wild card, he’s continued to get better and better,” James said on the latest episode of his Mind the Game podcast. “I was with him when he was young. I had the young Lake Show with him and Bi, and Lonzo, and Caruso, Zubac, I had the young guys. You just see Josh Hart continue to get better and better and better and he’s one of those few guys in our league that makes an impact and it doesn’t always have to be scoring.”
James knows Hart’s journey better than most. The two spent time together with the Lakers after Hart entered the league in 2017 before eventually being included in the blockbuster trade that brought Anthony Davis to Los Angeles.
Since then, Hart has developed into one of the league’s most valuable role players, helping drive the Knicks’ deep postseason run with his rebounding, defense, hustle and versatility.
James went on to compare Hart’s value to some of the NBA’s most respected winning players.
“It’s the Draymond Green role where he gets you eight points, but it’s 12 rebounds,” James continued. “It’s seven assists. It’s diving for loose ball, the stuff that doesn’t show up in the box scores. It’s that competitive will, and if you disrespect him he can obviously make shots as well. That coast-to-coast, left-to-right, right hand finish. So it’s big time to see Josh kind of grow into the player that he’s in and he’s one of those guys like you said, we always talk about Alex Caruso a lot. It’s those certain guys that you can plug into any franchise, any team, and they’re gonna win because those guys just make winning plays.”
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