“When the opportunity came about to step into roles that were asked of me, I was ready for it,” Brunson told Men’s Journal a few months ago. 

“It’s all about just staying ready. And I think watching my dad growing up and seeing how hard he worked to be in the position he was, it only pushed me to work harder once I got the opportunity.”

The 29-year-old is carving out his own Knicks legacy, following in his father’s footsteps. 

Rick Brunson was also a Knicks standout; Jalen watched his dad take the court when New York reached the NBA Finals in 1999, the last time the team made the cut before 2026. He also played for the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers across his nine-season career in the basketball league, and by 2007, he decided to hang up his jersey and go into coaching full-time. 

He returned to the Knicks as an assistant coach in 2022—the same year that his son joined the team. 

Now, the newest Knicks legend in the Brunson family is helping chart a new destiny for the team. After a turbulent five decades, the iconic NYC franchise finally secured a long-awaited win; in game five of the 2026 NBA finals, the Knicks beat out the Spurs 94-10 after overcoming a double-digit deficit, with Brunson scoring 45 points in the nail-biting showdown that shook the city. 

Brunson was crowned the NBA Finals MVP after carrying the offense to victory—and for the first time since 1973, the Knicks hoisted the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in the air. 

Brunson’s rise from 33rd NBA draft pick to 2026 Finals MVP

Just as the Knicks overcame a five-decade drought and several harrowing comebacks in the NBA finals this year, Brunson has also pushed through adversity in his athletic career. 

In 2018, when the New Jersey-born hooper was first recruited to join the NBA league, he wasn’t most teams’ first choice—in fact, he was the 33rd player picked in the second round of the 60-person draft. 

However, in the years since, he’s continuously pushed and proved himself; during his four-season stint at the Dallas Mavericks, Brunson steadily became one of the league’s best point guards, averaging about 16 points a game. And his drive hasn’t faltered since; now, Brunson is heralded for saving the struggling franchise after Saturday’s victory. 

“I would say my mindset truly hasn’t changed,” Brunson told Men’s Journal. “I continue to work hard every single step of the way from high school to college to here, and I don’t think my work ethic has really changed. I’m really proud of that. Even if I was in different roles at different stages of my career, my work ethic was always to try to be the best player I could be.”

And Brunson’s hard work has paid off. 

Thousands of New Yorkers clad in orange and blue flooded the streets to celebrate the win, turning the city into a giant block party, scaling street signs and scaffolding. And later this week, shredded paper will rain down on the basketball champions for the NYC ticker-tape parade celebrating the win—a historic tradition honoring monumental moments like the Yankees’ 1961 World Series win and Nelson Mandela’s release from prison—which will be a first for the Knicks. 

But even when the buzz mellows in the weeks following the NBA finals, Brunson will never take his foot off the gas. 

“When you think people aren’t watching, people are watching, people are always watching,” the basketball superstar added. “And it’s really just a testament to how hard you’re going to work.”

“Are you going to take the time when no one’s watching, when it’s the dog days of the season, or when it’s the beginning of summer? It’s all about what you’re going to do to be the best where you can be.”