Whereas it is taken a full staff effort by the Knicks to get so far, Brunson has additionally put his cape on and been New York’s clear MVP. Thus far by means of 12 playoff video games, he is averaging 28.8 factors, 7.7 assists and three.9 rebounds per sport. Brunson already has six 30-point video games, together with a streak of 4 in a row.
And while you add Brunson’s heroics as a part of this 12 months’s historic run to his previous postseason manufacturing — he averaged 32.4 factors final postseason — he is making a authentic case as already being one of many prime Knicks of all time.
Although he is solely been in New York three years, he is completed sufficient to be snug among the many prime 5 gamers in franchise historical past, and climbing.
Till somebody leads the Knicks to their first NBA championship since 1973, followers will at all times elevate Walt Frazier and Willis Reed as No. 1 and a pair of as a consequence of being the perfect gamers on each of New York’s NBA title groups within the early Seventies.
Reed spent all 10 years of his enjoying profession with the Knicks and was named NBA Finals MVP in 1970 and 1973. Frazier was a seven-time All-Star and a four-time All-NBA First Group participant with New York.
Past these two staples, Patrick Ewing, who dominated the paint for the Knicks from 1985-2000, and Earl “the Pearl” Monroe. Ewing was an 11-time All-Star and was a part of two Knicks groups to achieve the NBA Finals, granted he was injured and didn’t play of their 1999 loss to San Antonio. Monroe, one other Seventies star, averaged 19.9 factors per sport as a Knick and was on the 1973 championship staff.
Carmelo Anthony could even get introduced up for his general basketball legacy and his huge scoring moments, particularly his 62-point sport and his particular person achievement of claiming the 2013 scoring title.
However as NBA reporter Tim Bontemps put it on a current episode of ESPN’s “Hoop Collective” podcast, “Brunson has already breezed by Anthony” so far as the best Knicks, so far as staff accomplishment alone.
And now with one sequence standing within the Knicks’ approach from bringing the NBA Finals to Madison Sq. Backyard for the primary time this century, extra on-court brilliance and successful will undoubtedly make Brunson a cherished folks hero in New York endlessly.
If Brunson can maintain this magical season going and proceed his manufacturing tempo, he might argue for a top-three spot by mid-June. Then, if he can maintain constructing on his first three years all through extra time in New York, it isn’t wild to say he could go down as the best Knick of all time.
