Much has been made of where Jalen Brunson ranks in the pantheon of current NBA stars. References to his status as a “1A” player have been debated constantly over the past several years.
As the champagne dries and the cigar smoke clears in the road locker room in San Antonio on Sunday, Brunson has proven the doubters wrong. A 45-point masterpiece in the championship clincher was the end of a marvelous 16-3 playoff run for Brunson. The former second-round pick won NBA Finals MVP after leading the New York Knicks to a 4-1 NBA Finals win against the San Antonio Spurs. This is the franchise’s first championship in 53 years.
Since his arrival in the 2022 offseason, Brunson has reinvigorated the Knicks. His original four-year, $104 million contract was thought to be an overpay. It’s been everything but that.
From 2001 to 2022, New York won exactly one playoff series. It only took Brunson two years to eclipse that mark. New York’s 2023 run was where the possibilities of a championship team began. The Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round but fell to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat in six games.
Hidden behind that painful loss was Brunson’s elite performance. The guard averaged 31.0 points on 50.4 percent from the field and 6.3 assists against a frenetic Heat defense that threw zones, blitzes, and traps Brunson’s way. However, it wasn’t enough. Brunson had 41 points in the last game, but Julius Randle and RJ Barrett, New York’s second and third scoring options respectively, struggled in the series closer, shooting a combined 4-for-24 from the field.
The right group
It was that point where the Knicks front office, led by Leon Rose, knew it had a special player. But the club had to figure out how to find the right mix of defense, perimeter shooting and secondary offensive creation around Brunson.
Soon came big bets from New York. Early in the following season, the Knicks dealt homegrown first-round picks Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the Toronto Raptors for OG Anunoby. Then came the 2024 offseason acquisitions of Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets and Karl-Anthony Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Knicks went all-in with these moves, famously handing over five first round picks for Bridges and dealing key cogs Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, and a first-round pick, to land Towns.
Adding Anunoby and Bridges gave New York two very good corner three-point shooters, who, along with Josh Hart, created a three-headed monster of wings capable of guarding multiple positions. Towns was the second offensive option, a center who could create his own offense, but could also space the floor and create space for Brunson to operate.
After a loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2025, the final tweak came at head coach with the firing of Tom Thibodeau and the subsequent hiring of Mike Brown.
All of these moves have come with the intention of maximizing the Brunson window. New York also hit on smaller deals like adding Jose Alvarado and Landry Shamet over the last couple of years. They all paid off throughout this playoff run.
Offensive engine
Brunson is an offense unto himself, which leads to teams bending their defense to stop him. During this postseason, he averaged 1.09 points per possession in isolation according to NBA Stats, the second-highest number for any player that averaged at least 3.0 isolation possessions.
In these NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs tried everything to slow down the All-Star point guard. Much like that Miami team from a few years ago, there were full-court presses, traps and double teams. There was also 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama lurking by the basket on nearly every possession.
But this time, the teammates New York added around Brunson over the past couple of years were able to take advantage of the extended Spurs defense. Those same double teams created hockey assist opportunities. Shooters like Anunoby, Bridges and Landry Shamet all thrived from that. Anunoby’s game-winning tip-in in Game Four came off Brunson shooting as a double-team approached from the Spurs’ Wembayama and De’Aaron Fox.
Brunson and the Knicks’ relationship has been built on trust. The Knicks have done everything to build a contender that fits around the point guard. And Brunson has sacrificed, signing a four-year, $156.5 million extension in 2024 instead of waiting for a projected five-year, $269 million deal in 2025, a $113 million difference.
With Brunson on the roster, the Knicks will always have a fighting chance. And the belief in the guard will make the team do whatever it takes to compete for more titles going forward.
