Throughout the regular season and the early stages of the playoffs, a superstar has emerged in the Big Apple. This superstar, is Knicks’ guard, Jalen Brunson. As of May 5th, Brunson is averaging 36.5 points per game in the postseason. He’s the top scorer on a championship contender and has become the heart and soul of this Knicks team. However, with all his greatness, he doesn’t have the resume of a superstar. In six seasons, Brunson’s only been selected to the All-Star game once, and he’s only being paid 26 million dollars per year. That is because his superstardom is so sudden. With that said, let’s take a deeper look at his journey to becoming the superstar he is today.
THE BEGINNING;
On August 31st, 1996, Jalen Marquis Brunson was born in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Since his father, Rick Brunson, was a professional basketball player, Jalen dreamt of playing in the NBA as well. He attended Adlai Stevenson High School and stood out immediately. He was a 5-star recruit and was viewed as one of the top guards in the nation. He eventually committed to Villanova.
Brunson started 39 of 40 games as a freshman and was a big part of their successful 2015-2016 season. Led by Josh Hart, the Wildcats went 35W-5L and went on to win a national championship in March Madness. The following season, Hart and Brunson were great again, and Donte DiVincenzo emerged as a very solid player as well. Unfortunately, they fell short and lost in the round of 32. Hart was drafted after the 2016-2017 season, but that didn’t slow down the Wildcats. With their new big-3 of Brunson, DiVincenzo, and Mikal Bridges, Villanova went on a run. Led by a 31-point performance from DiVincenzo, the Villanova Wildcats took down the Michigan Wolverines in the National Championship game. After winning his second title, Jalen Brunson entered the NBA draft.
With the 3rd pick in the second round of the 2018 NBA draft, the Dallas Mavericks selected Jalen Brunson. The Mavericks had already acquired Luka Doncic, a more highly touted guard prospect, in the first round. In addition, Dallas had drafted a young point guard, Dennis Smith Jr. in the first round the previous year. Therefore, the role left for Jalen Brunson was minimal. In his rookie season, Brunson only started 38 out of 70 games, averaged 21.8 minutes on the floor, and put up 9.3 points per game. In his sophomore season, Brunson’s role only became smaller, and his odds of ever becoming an established starter seemed somewhat bleak.
THE TURNING POINT:
In his third season in Dallas, Jalen Brunson earned the Mavs’ 6-man role. He did a great job in the role he was given. While only getting 25 minutes and 9.2 field goal attempts per game, Brunson managed to score 12.6 points per game. Following the 2020-2021 season, Brunson came in 4th in voting for the 6-Man of the Year Award. Brunson’s impressive 2020-2021 season was enough to earn him a spot in the starting lineup in the following season. Nevertheless, the offense still ran through Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, limiting Brunson to only 12.8 field goal attempts and 16.3 points per game. Jalen Brunson found ways to make an impact without shooting as much as others, and in his contract year, he set new career highs in assists, rebounds, and steals.
Entering free agency, Brunson was expected to go to the New York Knicks. That was because they needed a guard, and his father was on their coaching staff. Brunson had noted on multiple occasions that his father was incredibly influential and impactful in his basketball journey. Therefore, if the Knicks were to make a decent offer, Brunson was expected to take it. Sure enough, the Knicks and Brunson reached an agreement. However, they did so before the legal tampering period had begun. The NBA penalized the Knicks by removing their second-round selection in the 2025 draft. This was some form of punishment, yet it was only a slap on the wrist. Had the league known what a star Brunson was to become in New York, the punishment would’ve seemed outrageously mild.
In the 2022-2023 season, the Knicks’ offense ran through Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle. Now that Brunson was one of the stars of the show, we saw a 37.5 percent increase in the field goal attempts from the guard. In accordance, his points per game increased by 47.2 percent, from 16.3 to 24.0. Brunson became a star and it was instantly evident that the Knicks got a steal when they signed Brunson to a 4-year 104-million-dollar deal. However, that was when Julius Randle was the 1 and Jalen was the 1A. The Knicks had no idea what they truly had in Brunson as a 1.
SUPERSTARDOM:
The 2023-2024 season, was when Jalen Brunson reached his full potential. Julius Randle struggled with multiple injuries. Randle only played in 46 games and wasn’t himself even when he did play, making Brunson the number 1 guy. In addition, Brunson was now playing among his former college teammates, as the Knicks had brought in Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart as role players. Brunson was in his element and became the face of basketball in New York City by putting up an incredible season. He finished the regular season averaging 28.7 points, 6.7 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game.
In his great 2023-2024 season, Brunson earned himself his first All-Star selection and earned the Knicks the 2 seed in the eastern conference. Entering the playoffs, the anticipation in New York was like never before. For the first time in years, the Knicks were contenders. New York faced the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round. In Madison Square Garden, the Knicks got out to a 2-0 lead before the series went to Philadelphia. The 76ers won the first game in Philly and a narrative began to spread, saying that the Knicks weren’t that much better and were only dominant at home. In game 4, Jalen Brunson put that narrative to bed in style. Brunson went off for 10 assists and 47 points (the most points in a single playoff game in Knicks history) and defeated the 76ers 97-92 in Philadelphia. Less than a week later, Brunson put up 12 assists and 41 points, to beat the 76ers in Philly again, and eliminate them from the playoffs.
In the very first game of the Knicks’ second-round matchup with the Indiana Pacers, Brunson shined yet again. Led by Brunson’s 43, the Villanova trio combined for 92 points, as the Knicks won 121-117. Jalen Brunson and the crew have been electric and have shown no signs of slowing down. While the Boston Celtics are as good as it gets, Brunson will most definitely give them a run for their money in the Eastern Conference Finals. He’s still only 27 years old, but I can’t wait to see how much Jalen Brunson will have accomplished with the Knicks when it’s all said and done.
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