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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.
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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.”
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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…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jalen-brunson-playing-nba-championship-213523541.html
Author : BRIAN MAHONEY
Publish date : 2026-06-02 21:35:00
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