Josh Hart has revealed the extraordinary reality behind the right ring finger injury he will continue playing through with the New York Knicks.
Hart says the damage to the finger has reached the point where the only surgical option available to him is a full joint replacement.
The problem is that undergoing the procedure would prevent him from continuing to play basketball.
That leaves Hart planning to keep the finger wrapped for the remainder of his NBA career before potentially undergoing the joint replacement after he retires.
Hart explained that the condition of the finger varies considerably from day to day. At times it functions relatively normally, while on other days even catching the ball or closing his hand can cause pain.
The 31-year-old originally dislocated the finger during Game 6 of the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers and subsequently underwent surgery.
He later aggravated the finger again and has continued playing with it protected.
Despite the issue, Hart shot a career-best 41.3 percent from three-point range across 66 regular-season games last season.
There is currently no indication that Hart intends to stop playing because of the injury. Instead, he plans to manage the condition and continue playing with the finger wrapped.
This is one of those injury stories where the headline sounds almost impossible until you hear Josh Hart explain the choice he is facing.
The significant part isn't simply that his finger still hurts. It's that the permanent surgical solution isn't compatible with continuing his NBA career.
So Hart is effectively choosing basketball over fixing the finger for now.
That doesn't mean his career is suddenly in danger of ending. Quite the opposite. Hart intends to continue playing and manage the injury, with the joint replacement something he can address once basketball is finished.
But it does give some perspective on what he'll be dealing with every time he steps onto the court.
For a player whose game relies so heavily on rebounding, physicality, handling the ball and doing the less glamorous work, a finger that can hurt simply when catching the basketball is hardly a minor inconvenience.
And yet he managed to shoot a career-best percentage from three last season while dealing with the problem.
LEAN EDGE VERDICT
Josh Hart isn't choosing surgery or a lengthy rehabilitation programme.
He's choosing to live with the injury because the operation that would properly repair the problem would also stop him playing basketball.
That makes this less about a conventional injury timetable and more about long-term management.
The finger may eventually need replacing. Hart has simply decided that basketball comes first.
