Josh Hart Shuts Down 'Stupid' Talk About Knicks Teammate

Josh Hart refused to entertain questions about a New York Knicks teammate's offseason developments.

Sep 30, 2024; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks guard Josh Hart speaks during a media day press conference at the MSG training facility in Tarrytown, NY. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

If the "Roommates Show" is any indication, there's little, if any, subject that New York Knicks forward/guard Josh Hart won't leave untouched.

But Hart made an exception on Tuesday night, refusing to indulge conversations about past and present teammate Mikal Bridges' shooting, which is among the primary concerns after the Knicks dropped a 132-109 decision to the Boston Celtics at the onset of the 2024-25 NBA season.

"Mikail don't care about anything else, we don't care about all the background noise about his shot," Hart said in video from SNY. "We don't care about it. He puts the work in every day. He's going to be good. The talk around it is stupid because he's been almost a 40 percent three-point shooter ... and we're not really going to entertain it."

Oct 22, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges (25) shoots against Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) in the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Bridges' attempts to recapture his outside spark from his Villanova days have been a subplot of Knicks training camp. Early adjustments to his jumper didn't pay off on opening night, as he missed all four of his three-point attempts in the first half. Bridges found a bit of a rhythm over the latter 24 minutes, sinking 7-of-8. By then, however, the Celtics had built an impenetrable lead, that flirted with history, as their 29 successful three-point attempts tied a single-game NBA record set by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2020.

Bridges is viewed as one of the reasons why some view the Knicks (0-1) as the primary threat to the Celtics' status as Eastern Conference/NBA champions but he struggled to live up to that reputation on Tuesday. In his own postgame comment, Bridges opted to take the game one approach, reasoning that the Knicks have (at least) 81 more opportunities to make things right.

""It's early, game one. That's why we've got 82 of them," Bridges said in video from SNY. "We're just going to learn from this one and everyone's going to be dialed in to get better."

The Knicks' first opportunity to show what they learned from the Beantown beatdown lands on Friday night when they host he Indiana Pacers in their 2024-25 home opener (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG/ESPN).

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