{"id":1990858,"date":"2026-06-15T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1990858"},"modified":"2026-06-15T09:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T06:30:00","slug":"knicks-hero-jalen-brunson-will-use-fresh-doubts-to-fuel-his-drive-for-a-second-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1990858","title":{"rendered":"Knicks hero Jalen Brunson will use fresh doubts to fuel his drive for a second championship"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Defending champs. The New York Knicks spent the first day of the rest of their lives wearing that designation like a fancy new suit.<\/p>\n

It takes some getting used to, but it sure looks good in the mirror.<\/p>\n

The first time Jalen Brunson is asked about being the NBA\u2019s defending champ entering the 2026-27 season, expect him to say what stoic, coach-speaking leaders are wired to say.<\/p>\n

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We are defending nothing. This year will be a journey independent of last year\u2019s<\/em>. Or something like that.<\/p>\n

Every scoreboard hanging above every possession in every game reads \u201c0-0\u201d in Brunson\u2019s mind, because every play has to be treated with the utmost respect and care, regardless of circumstances. Playing the game that way is exactly how a 6-foot-2 guard makes a 7-foot-4 center nicknamed \u201cThe Alien\u201d look human and downright small.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s how Brunson (6-4 wingspan) beat Victor Wembanyama (8-foot wingspan) by shooting over him from deep. It\u2019s how he scored under him in the paint, leading the Knicks past the San Antonio Spurs to the franchise\u2019s first title since 1973.<\/p>\n

Brunson should have his own statue outside Madison Square Garden ASAP. In fact, there should be a second statue for the team official who authorized the illegal tampering operation that ended with the former Dallas Maverick signing his $104 million deal in 2022.<\/p>\n

The Knicks lost a 2025 second-round pick as punishment, meaning that team official executed the most lopsided trade on record \u2014 a second-rounder for the second-rounder who needed a mere four seasons to become arguably the all-time greatest Knick \u2014 with plenty of prime years to come to enhance his legacy. Brunson hasn\u2019t turned 30 yet. He is not planning to go one-and-done simply because he dropped 45 Game 5 points on the Spurs to clinch his NBA Finals MVP award, or because the Knicks broke postseason records while ending their drought.<\/p>\n

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Now that he has silenced the skeptics and critics, Brunson will hunt for more doubters and haters to use as extra sources of motivation. If he has to create them, he will. It doesn\u2019t matter if the slights are real or imagined. Brunson will use them to prove people wrong all over again as he tries to join Walt Frazier and Willis Reed in the Knicks\u2019 two-title club.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat are they going to say now?\u201d his father, Knicks assistant Rick Brunson<\/a>, asked in the Frost Bank Center tunnel Saturday night after his son became a legend before his dad\u2019s very eyes.<\/p>\n

They are going to say that everything broke right for the Knicks with their postseason matchups, and that New York shouldn\u2019t hold its breath waiting for a second ticker-tape parade.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"New<\/p>\n
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\n New York City to host Knicks\u2019 first ticker-tape championship parade in Manhattan on Thursday\n <\/div>\n
\n For the first time in 53 years, the city will host an NBA championship parade.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Brunson knows the deal. Now that he has one ring, they\u2019ll say he has no shot at two. Or he\u2019ll convince himself that they\u2019re saying that.<\/p>\n

And that will be the rocket fuel propelling Brunson on his next drive for a title. He joined Steph Curry and Isiah Thomas on the painfully short list of small guards who served as lead superstars on championship teams. Thomas won twice with the Detroit Pistons, and Curry won two of his four titles without Kevin Durant on the Golden State Warriors. Don\u2019t be surprised if Brunson joins them on the list of multiple winners.<\/p>\n

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\"Jalen<\/p>\n
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\n Jalen Brunson drives to the basket against Victor Wembanyama during the fourth quarter in Game 5. (Gregory Shamus \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Like Eli Manning before him, Brunson has made himself a student of Derek Jeter\u2019s career, his Yankees captaincy, and his disposition in the public arena. It was clear even in his first New York season that Brunson had some Jeter in him \u2014 the drive, the consistency in performance and personality, and the daily urgency to be great. Brunson isn\u2019t matching Jeter\u2019s five rings, but after transitioning from his own Buck Showalter (Tom Thibodeau) to his own Joe Torre (Mike Brown), let\u2019s see how far he can take this.<\/p>\n

During Brunson\u2019s 2022-23 season, even Knicks wing Josh Hart, his old friend and Villanova teammate, confessed the following: \u201cI knew (Jalen) would have a long career in the NBA, but I didn\u2019t think it was gonna be how he\u2019s playing now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nobody did, not even Rick Brunson, who called his son\u2019s ascension to superstardom \u201ccrazy.\u201d The father and assistant coach said he never expected Jalen to reach these heights. \u201cI\u2019d be lying to you if I thought he\u2019d be this good,\u201d he said in that tunnel. \u201cI just wanted someone to come to New York, run a team and hopefully have a chance to win a championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Out on the court, after Patrick Ewing said he was blessed to watch Jalen Brunson \u201cput us on his back,\u201d Frazier agreed with Rick Brunson\u2019s assessment of Jalen at the time he signed with the Knicks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we first acquired him, I would\u2019ve been happy with 20 points and six assists, because they talk about his height and having no speed,\u201d Frazier said. \u201cI thought in a playoff situation, opponents would put taller guys on Jalen and he would have trouble.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he found a way. In every series, he found a way. The Spurs have excellent defenders on the perimeter, and they were frustrated and devastated by Brunson. It\u2019s a testament to his sagacity. His game is right between the ears.\u201d<\/p>\n

He dominated the mind game with Wemby, who didn\u2019t know if he was coming or going by the time Brunson was through with him. It was fitting that the captain had to topple a giant in the end, as Wemby, physically, is everything the Knicks\u2019 best player is not.<\/p>\n

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Now Brunson belongs to an exclusive circle of lionized New York winners. His membership is certified by the fact that Brunson passed on an additional $113 million in guaranteed cash<\/a> so that the Knicks would have the money to spend on the talent required for what was accomplished in Game 5.<\/p>\n

But no matter who was brought in to fill out the cast, there was never any question about the identity of the leading man. Brunson was wearing large goggles (to protect his eyes from sprayed champagne) over a championship cap when asked Saturday night for his message to those who said he \u201cwasn\u2019t a 1-A guy.\u201d He replied, \u201cI didn\u2019t respond to them then. I\u2019m damn sure not going to respond to them now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Brunson dropped the mic and exited stage left. The following day, his first as defending champ, oddsmakers installed Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Boston as better bets than the Knicks to raise the trophy next year. It\u2019s possible that Brunson\u2019s team won\u2019t be the odds-on favorite to win a second ring for the balance of the captain\u2019s prime.<\/p>\n

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So be it. Brunson wasn\u2019t supposed to claim two national titles in three years at Villanova, either, but of course he did. He wasn\u2019t supposed to play like a top-of-the-lottery draft pick, but of course he has for much of his NBA career.<\/p>\n

Even Jalen\u2019s father and his teammates had their doubts along the way. Even Leon Rose, the team president who signed him four years ago, could not have envisioned that Brunson, a longtime family friend, would turn into this kind of juggernaut.<\/p>\n

But he did. The guard who was undervalued in the draft, undervalued in Dallas and undervalued in free agency just starred<\/a> in perhaps the greatest postseason show<\/a> the NBA has ever seen.<\/p>\n

Given Brunson\u2019s track record, what makes anyone think he couldn\u2019t do it again?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Defending champs. The New York Knicks spent the first day of the rest of their lives wearing that designation like a fancy new suit. It takes some getting used to, but it sure looks good in the mirror. The first time Jalen Brunson is asked about being the NBA\u2019s defending champ entering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1990858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1990858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1990858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1990858\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1990858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1990858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1990858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}