The 2025-26 Knicks championship run, aside from being euphoric, historically impressive and unifying, was validating. It validated Leon Rose, who built a team like a family and made good moves to reach this pinnacle.
It validated Mike Brown and Karl-Anthony Towns, two talents who could never get over the hump. But maybe more than anybody, it validated Jalen Brunson, an all-time great playoff performer who was a championship shy of pantheon status.
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Now he’s got it, and despite the best efforts of the naysayers and rewriters of history, he’s ascended from gutsy underdog to legend. It’s time we talk about him that way.
First, a refresher on his resume to this point. After his first regular season as full-time starting point guard in 2022-23, he led the Knicks to the second round by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games, ultimately losing to the Finals-bound Miami Heat in six.
He averaged 27.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 5.6 assists on 47.4 percent shooting from the field. In a desperate stand against the Heat, he put up 32 points and 11 assists, 38 points and 41 points in consecutive closeout games, playing at least 45 minutes in each.
Turns out that was only a preview of how dominant Brunson could be in carrying a team despite the defensive gameplan being focused on him. He’d average 28.7 points and 6.7 assists the following season, losing his co-star, Julius Randle, halfway through, and finishing top five in MVP voting.
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With little but high-skilled role players and the power of friendship, he clawed the Knicks past the Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey-led Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 41.8 points and 10.3 assists on 54.7 percent shooting from two and 35.3 percent from three over the last four games of the series. He opened Round Two with another 43-point outburst, becoming the first player since Michael Jordan to record four straight 40-point games in the postseason, joining only Bernard King, Jerry West and him.
Injuries and wear-down would nix that run, but Brunson came back prepared last season, averaging 26 points and 7.3 assists (a career high) and winning Clutch Player of the Year thanks to his countless fourth quarter takeovers. He’d carry that over into the playoffs, averaging 29.4 points and seven assists on 51.4 percent shooting from two and 35.8 percent from three.
Brunson led his Knicks to two wins shy of an NBA Finals berth, icing the Pistons on a game-winning step-back three and pulling off a major upset of the defending champion Boston Celtics.
Of course, this year he followed up a relatively muted regular season with the playoff run of his life. He averaged 28.4 points and 6.1 assists on 51 percent shooting from two and 36.3 percent from three, numbers burdened by multiple blowouts wins that saw him sit for entire fourth quarters.
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After a Towns-centric first round, Brunson led the Knicks past Philadelphia and Cleveland in dominant fashion, and took control of the NBA Finals against the frisky Spurs. He put up 32.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in the championship round, clutching Games 1 and 2, leading a 29-point comeback in Game 4, and dropping a masterclass 45 points in the Game 5 clincher, all while being the center of attention against the league’s top defense.
In this four-year span, Brunson’s scored 300 more playoff points than any other NBA player and became the second-fastest point guard in history to 2,000 postseason points after Stephen Curry. He became one of six players to notch 26 points per game and 50 playoff wins before the age of 30, joining Curry, Jordan, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Shaquille O’Neal.
He’s tied for the most postseason wins over the last four seasons. His 45 points to win the Finals tied Jordan for an NBA road clincher record, and his 10.3 points in fourth quarters was the highest since Jordan in 1997.
Much of this was invalidated by the critique the Knicks couldn’t win a championship this way, or with a player of Brunson’s stature at the lead. Those critics were wrong, and while many will double down or move goalposts, the evidence speaks for itself at this point.
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Brunson isn’t just a heartwarming second-round come-up story, he isn’t just the Knicks’ savior or an All-Star tier player. He is one of the greatest guards this game has ever seen, and the time for such discussion is over.
