Like every rookie the Lakers have, had, or ever will have, Josh Hart was the recipient of a lot of unwarranted attention. That’s what being in the Los Angeles market combined with being on the franchise with the largest amount of casual fans will do. Because casual fans, not wanting to expose themselves as the dirty, dirty casuals that they are, will often latch on to players like Hart to try and prove that they know about more than just the stars of the team.
But despite all the hype and Fortnite Twitch streams, as far as I can tell, he’s just a guy. Pretty good, but nothing special. If he was playing somewhere other than LA, no one would give him much thought.
Well, now he is somewhere other than LA, and guess what, no one is giving him much thought. His trade buddies Brandon Ingram (due to being a high pick) and Lonzo Ball (due to his dad, Mr. He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named) are still getting some attention, though less than before. But Hart, he’s just disappeared into the miry swamps surrounding New Orleans. It’s sad, too, because he’s playing way better than he did last year. At least, when I look at the boxscores that’s what it seems like. You honestly don’t think I’m going to watch actual Pelicans games when they don’t even have Zion Williamson in them? I have to be picky with the games I watch.
I hope Lakers fans are at least trying to keep up with this guy. I’m sure they are with Ingram and Ball, so you’d think that just by accident they’d notice that Hart is balling out pretty hard. And maybe they’d simultaneously notice that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is doing pretty much the exact opposite of that and that maybe they picked the wrong dude to trade to New Orleans.