All-Star guard Jalen Brunson has emerged as the face of the New York Knicks since joining the club in 2022. Brunson has made the Knicks title contenders, and they were close last season. For the first time since 2000, New York made an appearance in the Eastern Conference finals. During that stretch, he averaged 30.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists.
At the start of his career, however, he wasn’t viewed as such. With the Dallas Mavericks, Brunson was the backup to Luka Doncic. He slowly earned the fans’ favor during the 2021-22 season. After that campaign, he had an option to either stay in Dallas or join a different franchise.
Eventually, Brunson signed a four-year, $104 million deal to join the Knicks. He hasn’t proven himself as a star at that point. Which is why fans didn’t have many expectations after he joined the team. However, he let his play on the court take over, changing their view of him as a player.
After the Knicks won the Emirates NBA Cup Semifinals on Sunday, former Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki came clean and admitted to Brunson that he didn’t have much belief in the star guard.
“When you left for New York, I wasn’t sure this was gonna work,” Nowitzki said.
The 2011 NBA champion expressed how proud he is of Jalen Brunson.
“I’m super proud of you and super happy for you. I saw how hard you work, how much it means to you, how much time you put in when nobody’s watching.”
“You prepared yourself for a long time for this moment, and I’m so happy that you’re leading this franchise the way you are. Scoring 30 a night, I never saw that coming. I’m really happy for you, keep going.”
Jalen Brunson shuts down the narrative of the East being “wide open”
Before the season started, there was a narrative that the Eastern Conference was “wide open.” With teams like the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics losing their best players due to injury, many think the title of being the best team in the conference hasn’t been established.
On Monday, Jalen Brunson shut down the narrative and pointed out how there are still competitive teams that could take over.
“But the conversation about the East being wide open, I’m not a fan of that,” Brunson said. “I think there’s too many great teams, great players, regardless of who’s out, that are still competing.”
Jalen Brunson:
"The conversation about the East being wide open I'm not a fan of that…the East is a lot better than people think and it's a grind every night" pic.twitter.com/mTVU6XDK2f
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) December 15, 2025
While the Western Conference is still stacked with tough groups, the East isn’t far behind. Additionally, Brunson and the Knicks are among the best teams.
