Josh Hart is sticking with his mangled finger because the alternatives are terrible.
“The only option for my finger at this point, because of how damaged it is, is a full joint replacement, and I can’t play with the joint replacement,” Hart revealed Thursday. “You can’t have the repetitive banging after joint replacement, grabbing a rebound, palming it, shooting, catching the ball, doing all that; you can’t do that.
“So if I did a joint replacement, then I wouldn’t be able to play. So I guess it’s either wrap it up until I retire or cut it off.”
Hart first injured that right ring finger during the 2025 playoffs, when he busted it in the second round against the Celtics. He underwent surgery but aggravated it before the start of last season.
At the time, Hart thought he could play through the pain — and endure the misshapenness of his finger — before correcting it with a second surgery. Apparently, the damage was irreversible without joint replacement surgery, and Hart enjoyed the best shooting season of his career while wearing a finger brace.
“It’s not the prettiest to look at, and I would love to have a straight finger,” said Hart, who knocked down 41.3 percent of his treys last season. “But it works.”
Still, the pain persists.
“Some days, it’ll be good. Some days, it’ll hurt to catch the ball,” Hart said. “It just varies. I wish I could tell you when I wake up whether it’s gonna be good or bad. Some days, it’s like a regular functioning finger. And other days, it hurts to just close my hand, to make a fist.”
Coach Mike Brown lauded Hart’s toughness while noting the finger is not aesthetically pleasing.
“Josh, he’s a handsome young man. But that finger is ugly,” Brown said. “So don’t look at it. But it adds to its toughness. You know, Josh is a tough son of a b—h, man; tough. I can’t imagine having a finger like that. But it just shows who he is.”
Brown said the plan is to “ease in” the starters during preseason before using the finale (Oct. 15 hosting the Raptors) as a dress rehearsal.
“We’ll try to build them up leading to that game,” Brown said.
In other words: Don’t expect the starters to play much in the preseason opener Monday in Philadelphia.
