Jalen Brunson gambled on the New York Knicks and the New York Knicks gambled on Jalen Brunson.
Just under four years later, both franchise and franchise player are celebrating an NBA title triumph that has seen audiences captivated by basketball in a way that hasn’t been the case since Michael Jordan was hooping.
Brunson was named Finals MVP as the New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 to seal a 4-1 series triumph and the Bill Russell Trophy-winner signed off his championship run in signature fashion.
He scored 45 points, a Knicks single-game Finals scoring record, shooting over 50 per cent from the field and on 3-pointers, and became one of four players – alongside Jordan, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bob Pettit – to score at least 45 points in a closeout game on the biggest stage of all.
Brunson’s sacrifice which allowed New York to win it all
Resilience was the watchword for the Knicks throughout the series, with New York rallying from double-digit deficits in all four of their victories, and the team’s star point guard has show plenty of that throughout his career – ever since he fell into the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft and at subsequent every stage of his career.
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson drives as San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet defends
After proving himself as an impactful NBA player for the Dallas Mavericks, as a useful foil for a young Luka Doncic, the team majorly lowballed him with their contract offer, prompting him to switch to New York.
When Brunson signed for the Knicks in July 2022 he signed a four-year contract worth $104m, pundits wrote off the deal and thought New York was grossly overpaying for a player who, at that time, had yet to make an All-Star appearance. Plenty of pundits were of the opinion he might not ever manage to.
Brunson shut those doubters up by becoming an All-Star in 2024 and being voted All-NBA Second Team – and that’s when he made the altruistic decision that allowed New York to put the talent around him to allow him to lead the team to a championship.
That summer, he agreed to a $156.6m four-year contract extension, signing a deal for far less money than if he waited to negotiate during free agency a year later. By waiting one year, he’d have been eligible for a five-year extension projected at roughly $269m.
Fans mount a school bus near Times Square
A nine figure sum left on the table – $113m to be precise – is an incredible sacrifice for anyone to make. It was all with a plan in mind though, and that plan came to fruition on Saturday night.
“He probably takes a pay cut that I wouldn’t have taken,” admitted head coach Mike Brown. “Every time they would’ve thrown that number in front of me, I would have said no, and I feel like I’m a good guy.
“He set the bar before he even stepped on the floor. That set the standard.”
How the Knicks used that money to assemble a championship team
The New York Knicks celebrate with the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy
In a league where salary cap flexibility is pivotal, Brunson’s decision allowed New York to put the talent around him which gave him and the franchise the platform to end a championship wait stretching over half a century.
It allowed the Knicks to stay under he second apron of the NBA salary cap and that in turn allowed OG Anunoby to re-sign; Brunson’s former Villanova team-mate Mikal Bridges (making it three in total, with Josh Hart also in the mix) to be traded in from Brooklyn in a way that kept the cap sheet workable; Karl-Anthony Towns, a former No 1 pick in the draft, to be acquired from Minnesota in a training-camp trade, which the Knicks could not have completed otherwise; and Bridges to sign a $150m extension that the team could only absorb while staying under the aprons.
The blockbuster trade for Towns – an elegant center boasting a full offensive repertoire who was one of the first of his archetype in the league – was the clearest direct dividend of the pay cut.
“For him to welcome both of us here into this organisation and trust that we were here for him, it means a lot,” said Towns.
“A person like that who has been handed the keys to the city and was willing to have the door open for both of us to join.”
The New York Knicks celebrate after defeating the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals
And for the player himself, there are no doubts he did the right thing.
“100 per cent worth it,” said Brunson. “Even if we didn’t achieve this, I feel like being able to do that and grind and go on a journey to try to achieve it would have been worth it as well.
“But this is definitely the cherry on top.”
