Josh Hart Ruled Out Tuesday With Illness, Proving He Is Actually Mortal

Josh Hart is actually missing a basketball game. The New York Knicks guard has been officially ruled out for Tuesday with an illness, proving that he is, in fact, a mortal human being and not a cyborg programmed by Tom Thibodeau to play 48 minutes a night.

When Hart sits, the entire ecosystem of New York basketball shifts. For the betting crowd, this means scrambling to adjust rebounding props and minute distributions, because replacing a guy who seemingly never leaves the floor completely scrambles the Knicks' rotation math.

"Underdog NBA reported: 'Josh Hart (illness) ruled out Tuesday.'"

For context on just how rare this is, Hart has been carrying a workload that would make a marathon runner wince. He was logging just under 38 minutes a game around the All-Star break, trailing only Tyrese Maxey and his teammate Mikal Bridges across the entire association.

He has been stuffing the stat sheet with 11.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 5.1 assists over 54 games. You do not just easily replace a shooting guard who rebounds like a power forward and runs the floor like he owes money to the mob.

The timing is brutal for a New York squad that has been treating the medical tent like a timeshare. With guys like Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby constantly shuffling on and off the injury report, Hart has been the duct tape holding the roster together.

It is honestly a miracle it took a random Tuesday illness to sideline him. Hart has been playing through a laundry list of ailments this season, from ankle sprains to knee soreness and patellofemoral syndrome, which is the medical term for having your knees ground into dust by an NBA schedule.

Now, the Knicks have to figure out how to survive a Tuesday night without their ultimate glue guy. Keep an eye on the injury report heading into Wednesday and beyond, because if Hart is sitting out, you know whatever bug he caught is putting up Hall of Fame numbers.