For the first time since 1973, the New York Knicks are NBA champions.
New York secured just the third title in franchise history on Saturday night, holding off the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The victory capped a remarkable postseason run and delivered a definitive answer to one of the league’s lingering debates: a small point guard can still be the driving force behind a championship team in today’s NBA.
Jalen Brunson made sure of that in emphatic fashion. The Knicks star closed out the series with a brilliant 45-point performance, earning Finals MVP honors after averaging 32.6 points across the matchup. Listed at 6-foot-2, Brunson is now only the fourth player of that height or shorter to win the award, joining Stephen Curry, Isiah Thomas and Tony Parker.
His rise makes the moment even more striking. Drafted in the second round at No. 33 overall in 2018, Brunson is the second-lowest selected player ever to win Finals MVP, behind only Nikola Jokic, who was taken 41st overall.
In sports, “underdog” is often used too loosely, but in Brunson’s case it fits. He was not projected to become this kind of star, much less the centerpiece of a championship team on the sport’s biggest stage. Critics questioned his size, his athleticism and his defensive ceiling. Even when the Knicks signed him to a four-year, $104 million deal in the summer of 2022, the move was widely viewed as a fallback plan for a franchise that had spent years missing on marquee names.
Those misses were well documented. LeBron James never came in 2010. The Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire era fell short of its promise. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving did not choose New York in 2019. In hindsight, landing Brunson — and doing so on that contract — stands as one of the most consequential signings the franchise has ever made, and one of the smartest in recent NBA history.
