Clarkson, 33, has perfected that routine during his career as he\u2019s embraced his role as an elite bench scorer.<\/p>\n
The Knicks realized during their run to the 2025 Eastern Conference finals that they needed more juice off the bench. Clarkson\u2019s arrival in New York has been mutually beneficial for both parties.<\/p>\n
![\"Jordan](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Jordan-Clarkson.jpg\")
Jordan Clarkson drives to the basket during the Knicks\u2019 loss to the 76ers on Dec. 19, 2025 at Madison Square Garden. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Clarkson had been coming off consecutive seasons of decline in defense and his offensive efficiency. <\/p>\n
But the 33-year-old, now in his first season in New York and 12th overall, has started to rediscover his groove.<\/p>\n
Clarkson is averaging 9.9 points, two rebounds and 1.6 assists in 20 minutes per game. <\/p>\n
His points and minutes are a career low. <\/p>\n
![\"Jordan](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Jordan-Clarkson-2.jpg\")
Jordan Clarkson looks to make a move on ex-Knick Quentin Grimes during their loss to the 76ers. Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
But his defense and timely shotmaking have been a welcome addition for the Knicks.<\/p>\n
Clarkson is shooting 43.9 percent from the field \u2014 his best mark since the 2022-23 season in Utah \u2014 and 31.2 percent from deep.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s accepted that role and also accepted and embraced the defense side of the ball and trying to be more physical and more disruptive on the defensive end,\u201d Josh Hart said. \u201cSo we need him. That\u2019s why he\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the NBA Cup final, Clarkson contributed 15 points and three 3s off the bench. <\/p>\n
And two days later, on a night when the Knicks were down five players including three starters, Clarkson helped New York pull off a comeback win in Indiana on Thursday, recording 18 points with five 3s.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In Friday\u2019s loss to the Sixers, he had nine points on 4-of-6 shooting in just under 16 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cImmediate spark. Immediate offensive presence, playing really well defensively, as well,\u201d Jalen Brunson said of Clarkson. \u201cWhat [he\u2019s been] able to do for us so far this season has been tremendous and that\u2019s just who he is. For as long as I\u2019ve known him, that\u2019s the type of person and player he\u2019s brought to his teams that he\u2019s been on and so very happy he\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clarkson faced a career reckoning ahead of his third season in the NBA.<\/p>\n
Then-Lakers coach Luke Walton planned to have Clarkson come off the bench for the 2016-17 season.<\/p>\n
Clarkson could\u2019ve looked at that decision in one of two ways: A demotion or an opportunity.<\/p>\n
Clarkson decided to do the latter and his stamp now on the league is being a reliable role player.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s started fewer than 30 percent of his 780 regular-season games. <\/p>\n
But Clarkson is seventh on the NBA\u2019s all-time bench scoring list with 8,695 points, according to Statmuse.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
It\u2019s possible he\u2019ll jump Thurl Bailey (who has 8,695 points) for sixth this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just know it\u2019s a team sport. It\u2019s five guys on the court. Everybody brings something to the game,\u201d said Clarkson, whose career earnings are around $190 million, according to Spotrac. \u201cSo that\u2019s my way of impacting it, it\u2019s made me and my family blessed, so I just keep continuing to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As soon as the ball is tipped off, Knicks veteran Jordan Clarkson starts to buzz. Look near the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3768],"tags":[7,2131,304,6,1136,191,3810,3806,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-486211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-knicks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-jordan-clarkson","10":"tag-knicks","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-knicks","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkknicks","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115755801341541174","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}