New York Knicks' RJ Barrett: Migraines Were 'Not Fun'

RJ Barrett returned to action for the New York Knicks on Saturday after three games off due to migraines.

The New York Knicks have been a traveling headache: they've won each of the last three games on an ongoing five-part road trip, which ends on Monday in Minnesota (8 p.m. ET, MSG), as well as six of their past seven as they recover from a tepid start to the 2023-24 season. 

New York (8-5) not only enjoyed a 122-108 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night but also happily welcomed back RJ Barrett back from a three-game absence. Barrett had missed the Knicks' previous trio due to migraines that interrupted what's been the finest start of his professional career. 

Averaging 22.6 points and 3.1 assists over his first seven appearances, Barrett has built an early case for his first NBA All-Star Game. Alas, the migraines were another first for the fifth-year wing, who described the resulting pain as "not anything I’d wish on anybody," per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.

"It was my first (migraine) ... so definitely wasn’t the best feeling at all. It was terrible, actually. I’m feeling better now, thank God," Barrett said. "I wasn’t feeling well. For me, to sit out three games, it definitely was not something fun, at all."

Barrett earned 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting in Saturday's win, the Knicks' second over the Hornets in seven days. He described himself as "feel(ing) better but obviously not 100 percent" after the Charlotte game, which was paced by 32 points from Jalen Brunson. 

Barrett (9) returned to the New York lineup against Charlotte on Saturday / Wendell Cruz, USA TODAY SPORTS

The Knicks have four days off after Monday night basketball in Minneapolis, which gives some Barrett a little breathing room before the return to Madison Square Garden on Black Friday against Miami. Head coach Tom Thibodeau was obviously forgiving of Barrett's rustiness in Charlotte but hinted at getting him back to a full workload in his own postgame comments.

“You can’t take that amount of time off and not feel it,” Thibodeau said, per Bondy. “He was in a great rhythm, now we’ve got to get him back in that rhythm.”

If there's unanimous truth about Barrett's NBA career to date, it's that his mere prescience has been an undeniable advantage over draft class brethren Zion Williamson and Ja Morant. Over his first four seasons, Barrett missed only 31 of a possible 302 games, including only nine last season.

But Barrett's early momentum has already been stifled on a couple of occasions this season, as he previously missed two other games due to knee soreness. New York had lost each of its first three Barrett-free showings but won two this week in Atlanta and Washington while he recovered. 

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In addition to Barrett, the Knicks have also been without Quentin Grimes thanks to a sprained wrist sustained on Wednesday in Atlanta. Brunson, who has posted inflated box scores with both Barrett and Grimes sidelined (28.5 points on 47.5 percent shooting and 6.5 assists in the last four games), credited his comrades for embracing the tropes of "next man up" basketball. 

“It’s not just one person stepping up. It’s everyone stepping up," Brunson noted, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. "We have a lot of great pieces on this team, a lot of great individuals that can do a lot of great things. We can put that all together and play together and that’s something special.”