At his introductory press convention on Sept. 22, 2022, Jalen Brunson sat at a podium, decked out in a crisp quantity 11 New York Knick jersey, and mentioned the next, “I’m not a savior in any way, shape, or form. I just want to be able to contribute to the team.”
It was his first assertion to Knicks followers, and it was a lie. We didn’t comprehend it then, however Brunson was promoting himself quick, a trait that’s in lockstep along with his humility, one of many traits which have made him the best free-agent signing in franchise historical past. However on the time, most Knicks followers, the mainstream media, and basketball followers, typically, agreed with him. He was a former backup and second-round choose, who confirmed flashes of playoff brilliance with the Dallas Mavericks within the 2022 playoffs, but in addition performed himself off the ground towards the Clippers the postseason earlier than.
Then there’s how he appeared. The best Knicks level guard and participant of all time, Walt “Clyde ‘’ Frazier, not only played the part, but also looked it. With his slender build, cool-as-ice mutton chops, and jazz-like game, you could feel his impact through the TV screen. Brunson is firmly tethered to the floor. He has no bounce. No tremor to his first step. Josh Hart, the Oscar to Brunson’s Felix Odd Couple (the duo has perfected their two-man routine since winning a championship together at Villanova), often jokes about Brunson’s oversized head. Many across the NBA landscape agreed Brunson doesn’t look the part of a superstar, much less a savior. Some derided the Knicks for overpaying the four-year, $104 million contract for another “non-star.”
However within the season and a half he has been with the group, he has single-handedly maximized the Knicks’ potential, turned them right into a bonafide contender for the primary time in 23 years and developed right into a savior for New York Metropolis and Knicks followers worldwide. He has additionally achieved one thing else outstanding: He’s the most effective level guard within the NBA. ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins not too long ago expressed this sentiment after Brunson was named a first-time All-Star earlier than dropping 40 on the Pacers. Brunson’s January was historic. His 28.9 factors, 7.7 assists, and 61.6% true taking pictures made him one among solely seven gamers who ever reached that degree of mixed scoring, playmaking, and effectivity: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Larry Chook, Luka Dončić, Trae Younger, James Harden, and Damian Lillard. Final month, he tore up the league on floaters (59%) and three-pointers (39.7%) on the way in which to a Knicks 14-2 document. Amongst level guards, solely Shai Gilgeous-Alexander assaults the rim greater than Brunson, maybe as a result of SGA shoots a paltry 35% from three. On the identical time, Brunson notches the fifth-most fouls made and-1s within the NBA, proving his uncommon five-level scoring capacity.
His opponents will level to Gilgeous-Alexander’s gaudy statistics or Steph Curry’s championship rings. However as sensible as SGA is, he has solely a single first-round exit on his playoff resume, which occurred again in 2020. Curry has lastly reached the tip of his prime and has been outperformed by Brunson this season.
Brunson dragged a bunch of function gamers, an injured Julius Randle and ill-fitting items to the second spherical of the playoffs final postseason earlier than dropping to the eventual Finals-bound Miami Warmth. The Warmth are identified for shutting down opposing stars, as they did to Trae Younger within the 2022 playoffs. However Brunson gave the Knicks an opportunity towards their hardest Jap Convention opponent, averaging 31 factors, 6.3 assists and 5.5 rebounds in a brutally shut six-game sequence. The Warmth tried a number of defenders, together with All-Protection Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, on Brunson, however none might sluggish him down. He had his manner with the complete group and each scheme thrown at him whereas averaging 50% taking pictures by means of the sequence.
After a breakout as a first-time starter final season, Brunson is averaging profession highs throughout the board: 27.3 PPG, 6.5 APG, 3.9 RPG, 6.2 FTA and 41.3 3FG%. Tyrese Haliburton can be a contender for finest level guard within the NBA with a league-leading 12 APG, however he, too, has zero playoff expertise to talk of. Common season stats solely go thus far. Randle and head coach Tom Thibodeau have been in New York for 5 and 4 years, respectively, making the playoffs solely as soon as with a first-round exit earlier than Brunson arrived. In his first season with the Knicks (and first as “the guy”), he took them farther than they’d been within the playoffs in a decade. He additionally leads the NBA in offensive fouls drawn.
In simply 48 video games, Brunson has already achieved 5 unbelievable 40+ performances and 19 video games scoring 30 factors or extra. Since Scottie Pippen’s legendary +272 in November 1996, no participant has come near matching that feat. Enter Jalen Brunson, who, in January, scorched the NBA with a outstanding +256 plus-minus, etching his identify into the historical past books. When Brunson mentioned he needed to ‘contribute to the team,” he wasn’t mendacity. The Knicks haven’t loved back-to-back top-10 offenses for the reason that daybreak of NBA superior stats (1996-97), and now the famous person guard has them in direction of unprecedented territory: consecutive top-five finishes.
Not like Gilgeous-Alexander and Curry, Brunson shouldn’t be enjoying alongside a bunch of Lottery picks. The Thunder have three Lottery picks within the beginning lineup (Josh Giddey sixth in 2021, Chet Holmgren second in 2022, and Jalen Williams twelfth in 2022 ). The Warriors do, too, (Klay Thompson was seventh in 2011, Andrew Wiggins was first in 2014, and Jonathon Kuminga was seventh in 2021). Brunson performs with just one Lottery choose in Julius Randle (seventh in 2014). Bruson presently makes his teammates higher than any of these different guys, as 4 of Thibodeau’s nine-man rotation have been second-round picks (Isaiah Hartenstein, Miles McBride, Jericho Sims, Mitchell Robinson), and all of the others have been late-first-round picks. Brunson’s impression upon becoming a member of the Knicks was instant, whereas Gilgeous-Alexander (his largest competitors to the throne) took 5 years to lastly earn a playoff-worthy document. It’s lots simpler to be good with a horde of Lottery picks round you and enjoying within the smallest market of the NBA.
It’s much more wonderful that Bunson is doing this with unparalleled expectations for the Knicks. Positive, Gilgeous-Alexander is balling out in podunk Oklahoma Metropolis, the place stress is non-existent as their rebuild nears its finish. Since James Dolan was handed the Knicks by his daddy on a silver platter, solely Amare Stoudamire got here to the Knicks as a free agent in an try and be “the man” amid immense stress. He, too, failed. So when Brunson mentioned he was not coming to the Knicks to be a savior, we believed him. A free agent hadn’t come to the Knicks with playoff success since Allan Houston in 1996. Brunson simply needed to play for folks he trusted: godfather Leon Rose, pops Rick Brunson, and his household good friend, Thibodeau. He needed the reins of his personal group to show the haters unsuitable on the next degree. On the time, neither he nor we knew that he would change into the savior the Knicks have looked for over 50 years.
