Jalen Brunson might be playing for something more than a championship in these NBA Finals.
A victory would put him in the conversation as the greatest New York Knick ever, and at the same time earn New York sports immortality status.
After just four years, he is all over the record book for a Knicks franchise that has been around for all 80 NBA seasons. He is already third on its career list in playoff points. The Knicks have advanced in the postseason every year since Brunson arrived in 2022, after winning one series in the two decades before.
Now they are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, with a shot to win their first title since 1973.
Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier and Willis Reed — in some order — are widely regarded as the top players in franchise history. If Brunson can lead the Knicks to the title now, there’s an argument he could be the best of them all.
“Well, right now a lot of people say he’s the greatest Knick ever because of getting them to the finals and obviously if he wins a championship,” Frazier said. “So I don’t think he’s the greatest Knick ever — I always say it’s Willis, and Willis said it’s Patrick, and Patrick says it’s Patrick. So he would definitely be on Mount Rushmore. We’ll put him up there if he can bring this title.”
Brunson is averaging 26.9 points in the postseason, slightly up from his 26 per game in the regular season. The Eastern Conference finals MVP is making history just by reaching the finals, as he and his father, Rick, a Knicks assistant who played for them in 1999 when Jalen was just shy of 3 years old, will become the first father-son duo to play in the finals for the same franchise.
None of this was expected when Brunson signed in New York. This wasn’t Victor Wembanyama arriving in San Antonio from France as the No. 1 pick in the draft as a 7-foot-4 giant whose array of skills made it easy to forecast that he could become one of the greats of the game.
Brunson stands just 6-2 and doesn’t appear to be blessed with explosive speed. That’s how a two-time NCAA champion and college player of the year at Villanova ended up as just a second-round pick in 2018. He landed in Dallas at the same time as Luka Doncic, and seeing how easy the Slovenian sensation made the game look had Brunson wondering about his own abilities.
“It made me kind of question myself to see how hard I actually had to work to be in the position I wanted to be,” he said.
He was largely a backup in his four seasons in Dallas before the Knicks spent more than $100 million to pry him away. It’s probably the best decision they ever made — and with what Brunson has done in New York at that low cost for a now perennial All-Star, one of the best free agent moves any team ever has.
The Knicks have just two NBA titles, and the wait for a third has lasted so many generations that Brunson would easily join New York sports icons such as Joe Namath, Derek Jeter or Reggie Jackson, still celebrated around the five boroughs long after their championships, if he can win just one now.
Get it and the second-team All-NBA pick would be confirmed as a superstar. Of course, the opposite could happen. If Brunson struggles against the Spurs’ good defensive guards and the Knicks lose, there will be critics quick to say they need more because Brunson just isn’t quite a 1-A.
“I mean, I don’t really care what people say, so at the end of the day I’m not going to base my judgment or evaluation of him as a player off people that never played the game and just never been in that situation,” teammate and close friend Josh Hart said. “So I know he doesn’t really care about it, I don’t really care about it. At the end of the day those quote-unquote people are irrelevant.”
Around New York, it’s clear the respect Brunson commands. Mets slugger Juan Soto hit a home run and performed the hand gesture Brunson uses to celebrate a 3-pointer. Jets coach Aaron Glenn said the impact the captain has on the club is evident.
“I mean, you can tell that the leadership, the fight, everybody follows that, and it’s easy to follow that,” Glenn said. “He’s a guy, and I continue to say this, that leadership really comes down to one word and that’s ‘influence.’ You really see the influence that he has, and it’s not always verbal. It’s a lot of just what he does and how he operates.”
Brunson doesn’t seem to seek the spotlight and will never ooze coolness like Frazier, the stylish “Clyde” known for his colorful suits. But a title puts him in the same club, and membership has long-lasting benefits.
“I can’t walk the street, it’s like I’m in a parade. Anywhere I go people are like, ‘Oh, there he is, there’s Clyde! There’s Clyde!’” Frazier said. “So if these guys win another title — man, I can’t spend money now in New York. I’ll never have to spend money again in this city.
“And that’s what I want to show the players. Hey man, I’ve been doing this for 50 years. Fifty years just for winning two titles! So you guys can have it if you just win one title.”
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