Some players are born for greatness, while others become great because they carry the feeling that they must prove themselves wherever they go. And some are both. New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson, for example. In his case, it is first and foremost the desire to prove himself, without a doubt, but Brunson’s journey over the past four years now looks like it has reached the “born for greatness” stage.
There is no other way to explain what a 29-year-old player, 6-foot-2, who looks more like Diego Maradona than a modern point guard — Maradona, any England fan will tell you, had a much better vertical leap than Brunson — is doing three wins away from an NBA championship that will have his name written on every wall of graffiti in New York.
The Knicks lead the NBA Finals series 1-0 ahead of Game 2 Friday night in Texas (3:30 a.m. Saturday Israel time), and of course it is far from over. But now the kids from San Antonio will have to find out what they are really made of. That will be twice as hard against a team that has won 12 straight playoff games and three times as hard because Jalen Brunson’s heart is even bigger than his basketball skills.
All for one
Today, people do not really remember how Brunson’s signing with the Knicks in the summer of 2022 — four years, $104 million — was received. The ridicule was universal. Brunson had just finished an excellent individual playoff run in Dallas, but no one thought he should actually be handed a team. The main argument was: “He played next to Luka Doncic, he can’t be a 1A option, he won’t get the Knicks past even one playoff round.” It was voiced by analysts whose words are treated like truth just handed down from Mount Sinai.
The fact that his father, Rick Brunson, was appointed an assistant coach a month before his son’s signing, with a strong smell of nepotism in the air, certainly did not help soften the landing.
So Jalen Brunson did what he always does: He put his head down and went to work, making sure he would always be in the best shape of anyone on the court and developing a repertoire of ways to work around his physical limitations. No player works harder for every point he scores, and he scores a lot. His footwork, the way he creates space for himself, the range of tricks he has learned to score over, around and under much taller and more athletic defenders — it is a true art form.
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Knicks legends Patrick Ewing and Walt Frazier present the Eastern Conference MVP trophy to Jalen Brunson
(Photo: Reuters )
Leon Rose — who in 2020 took over a mythic franchise with a home arena unlike any other in the world and turned a sad joke around — did not simply gamble on Brunson. He spent recent years building a team of players, each of whom is there to complement Brunson, cover for his weaknesses or give him rest.
Rose had no doubt Brunson was that coveted “1A option,” and now no one can argue with him. Brunson, for his part, knew he needed help. His decision to give up $113 million in a four-year contract extension is what allowed the Knicks to bring in good, smart and mature players who know their strengths and weaknesses, and understand their role: to create, for three quarters, the conditions that allow Brunson to go to work in the fourth quarter and win, again and again and again.
Thanks to those players — Josh Hart, for example, a 6-foot-4 guard who grabbed 15 rebounds against Victor Wembanyama’s team — and thanks also to Mike Brown, a coach who himself carries a heavy sense of needing to prove something, the Knicks have had far more rest days than game days in recent weeks. They now look as fresh as Central Park in spring.
The Knicks need three more wins to capture the championship after one of the most astonishing playoff runs ever. If it happens, Jalen Brunson’s name will still be whispered on New York streets 100 years from now, from the Bronx to Coney Island.