The New York Knicks have paused contract extension negotiations with players, including Josh Hart. Team captain Jalen Brunson assured that the roster will remain professional despite the situation. He emphasized the importance of ignoring outside noise and staying focused on the court.
Credit Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports - Scanpix
The New York Knicks started their campaign of defending the crown in an interesting manner.
After losing Mitchell Robinson in free agency to the Boston Celtics, the front office decided to halt all the negotiations with the players about pending extension deals.
Josh Hart contract status
One of them is Josh Hart, who was supposed to re-sign on a longer deal with the Knicks this summer.
Hart has a valid contract for the upcoming season and a team option held by the Knicks for the 27-28 campaign, but there are no long-term guarantees as of now for Hart.
Knicks captain Jalen Brunson assured the fans that the situation won't cause any problems with Hart on the court:
“He’s gonna be a professional,” Jalen Brunson said on Saturday in a media scrum.
“Not just him, everybody. Everyone’s gonna be professional and continue to do their jobs. No matter what the situation is, things are gonna happen. There’s always gonna be a roller coaster every season. Ups and downs emotionally."
"No matter what, when we’re out there on the court, we’re gonna have each other’s backs."
Jalen Brunson's captain leadership
And as Knicks captain, not letting this all become a distraction that derails their hopes of repeating as champions will be a new challenge for Brunson’s leadership.
“There’s only potential distractions when you read and believe what people are saying,” Brunson said.
“No matter what’s being said, no matter what’s being talked about consistently or not, you believe what you wanna believe, you hear what you wanna hear."
"It’s on us as teammates and individuals and professionals to understand what the nature of it is. People are gonna talk about it. So we gotta control what we can control and do our jobs," Brunson concluded.
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