Birthday Boy Brunson Has Been Knicks’ Finest Gift

Further metropolitan praise for Jalen Brunson seems cliched, forced, over done. But the New York Knicks are completely fine with that: they’re trying to win a Larry O’Brien Trophy, not an Oscar..

That’s why Knicks fans will relish Saturday, Brunson’s 28th birthday, as he’s once again creating superlatives that feel pulled from a children’s hardwood fable. On a day where Brunson is showered in gifts … not least of which is the arrival of his first child Jordyn James, who turns a month old on his father’s 348th … its worth looking back on exactly how much his arrival has meant to the city whose central religion centers on a round ball deity.

Never mind Brunson’s team-first mentality, focusing on milestones only in victory mantra, and headline-avoiding personality that seems to be the antithesis of new-century Knicks basketball’s perception. That’s welcome, its abundance even moreso, but character was never the team’s primary issue. Forget the oft-cited discount that kept nine figures in the Knicks’ wallets,ensuring that he’ll be able to play with his friends for the forseeable future.

Credit Brunson instead for how so many things could’ve gone wrong ever since he signed a four-year, $104 deal with the Knicks during the fateful summer of 2022. From the get-go, it easy to draw horrifying comparisons: a flash-in-the-pan breakout postseason star? Jerome James! A talented point guard paid bucks to solve the long-standing woes at basketball’s quarterback? Kemba Walker!

Normally excitable Knicks fans, chided for treating Game 1 first-round victories, were willing to temper their expectations: many, after all, have called for Carmelo Anthony immortality despite only one playoff series win in his lengthy tenure. If Brunson averaged 20, got the Knicks back to the Play-In Tournament discussion, particularly in hosting duties, everyone would’ve been fine with that.

Perhaps no one would say it aloud, but Brunson could be charitably described as a placeholder, a stopgap, someone to hold Knicks fans over until an established star made his way to Manhattan. Between hoping to land, say, Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Durant, or even the final years of LeBron James’ reign, the Knicks were a superhero movie that cast the sidekick before the star.

There’s no disputing that Brunson has obtained such a status now.

Just two years into Brunson’s Knicks tenure, the final stages of his 20s, Brunson has already gained sizable support for metropolitan immortality, with many clamoring for his No. 11 to join that of Mark Messier in the world’s most famous rafters.

The Knicks are not only back in the realm of relevancy in the Association but now many see them as a bonafide contender after the team scratched the idea of upstaging Brunson and instead opted to build around him. Look no further than the Villanova Wildcat litter that has come to join in just about a year and a half, one that has turned Madison Square Garden into a de facto dining hall on the Main Line.

For their part, the Knicks gave Brunson his gift early: team captaincy. Sure, it feels like a thank you for the aforementioned sacrifice, but now he gets a chance to prove his ultimate mettle, whether a team indisputably led by Brunson is capable of bigger things. It won’t be cute or fun anymore to simply win round one (though Knicks fans will indubitably keep the vibes immaculate if and when it gets to that point).

Offering a reward of more work at a (relatively) discounted rate seems like the antithesis of a birthday, but if Brunson’s prior track record is any indication, it’ll be as valuable and as cherished as, say, a new game system or a Philadelphia Eagles jersey. Brunson has embraced all kinds of challenges, ones he has passed with style and swagger, at every level of his two years in New York. Why stop now, even if this challenge is the most daunting yet?

Frankly, it’s the least the Knicks can do, a birthday equivalent of gifting a treat found at the cash register at Target on the way to the party. For these two sides, however, nothing could be sweeter. It’s up to them to keep it up.

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