How Josh Hart of the Knicks makes a unique box for the first All-star selection

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The only problem with Hart making the All-Star team is that the selection won’t be made in a vacuum. Outside of the rookies, Hart is competing with Tyrese Maxey, Damian Lillard, Cade Cunningham, Paolo Buncher, Tyler Hero, Jaylen Brown, Trae Young and Darius Garland (among others) for a spot. All of those players are first or second options on Eastern Conference playoff teams. Hart is not that.

Much of Hart’s appeal is difficult to document. Sure, he grabs rebounds, but his best attributes are hustle and motor. Like Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason before him, he never stops playing basketball. He will dive to the floor and to the stands regardless of his body.

And most importantly, when he controls the defensive rebound, he drives the ball down the floor with fury. It’s a simple skill to explain, but it’s rarer than you might 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?

Granted, it’s unlikely Hart will join the All-Stars in Indianapolis. There are simply too many talented players with more attractive skills than him. In fact, a player like Hart hasn’t been named to the All-Star team since Draymond Green made the roster in 2019.

But while it’s unlikely, there is local history that it happened to the Knicks, at least once. Oakley was named to the All-Star team while playing for the Knicks in 1994, a feat he accomplished after an All-Defensive freshman season. And while Hart is unlikely to make the All-Defense first team, it speaks to the idea that you don’t have to be the best scorer to be an All-Star, especially if you’re playing in New York.

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