The New York Knicks have not been to the NBA Finals since 1999. That is a generation of fans growing up without knowing what a real title run feels like, without having a player worth truly believing in.
The closest this city has come to that feeling again started when a 33rd pick out of Villanova, who spent four years in Dallas, chose New York and made it his home.
Look around the league at every franchise-defining talent right now. Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, Paolo Banchero or others. Every single one of them was a lottery pick, a high first-rounder, a guy teams planned their entire future around.
Jalen Brunson was picked No. 33. Nobody handed him anything, and yet here he is, the most important Knick in over two decades.
Patrick Ewing was the first overall pick in 1985, spent 15 seasons giving everything he had to this city, and took the Knicks to the NBA Finals twice, in 1994 and 1999. He never got his ring, but he was the last Knick who made this fanbase truly believe a championship was possible.
Brunson is the first since Ewing to bring that feeling back, and he is already doing something Ewing never got to do.
In December 2025, Brunson led the Knicks to the NBA Cup title, the first trophy this franchise had won in a long time. It is a different era, a different tournament, but Madison Square Garden had not celebrated hardware in years and Brunson put it there.
Knicks Playoff Stats Show a Player Who Delivers When It Matters
Feb 22, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) shoots against Chicago Bulls guard Collin Sexton (2) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
The regular season case is already strong. Since arriving in New York, Brunson owns the best combined points and assists per game in Knicks franchise history at 33.1.
The team is 37-21 this season, third in the Eastern Conference, and on pace for a third straight 50-win season, something that has only happened twice before in franchise history.
But the real argument against his critics comes in the playoffs. The people who call him a ball hog go quiet when the postseason starts. In 2023-24, he averaged 32.4 playoff points per game, second in the entire league that postseason. In the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, he was putting up 30.4 points per game in the series.
Game 5 of that series, facing elimination, Brunson dropped 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting and set a franchise record with his 21st postseason game of 30 or more points as a Knick. The Knicks pushed Indiana to six games before falling short, but Brunson was not the reason they lost.
He has scored more in the playoffs than in the regular season every single year as a Knick. He is 29 years old, with a new coach in Mike Brown, a hungry roster, and a city that finally has someone worth believing in again.
Nobody is saying Brunson has surpassed Ewing or the legends of that 1990s era, but the energy around this team right now feels closer to that time than anything the Knicks have had in between.