Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier, and Willis Reed. Put them in whichever order you'd like, but those are the definitive three best players in New York Knicks history as far as this writer is concerned. Those three icons reached extraordinary heights, leading New York through its greatest eras.
Fast forward nearly 25 years from Ewing's last game with the Knicks and a fourth name has been added to complete the Mount Rushmore: Jalen Brunson.
The competition is stiff, including beloved franchise legends such as Carmelo Anthony, Dave DeBusschere, and Bernard King. Respect should also be shown to the likes of Carl Braun, Allan Houston, and Earl Monroe for their contributions to fruitful eras of Knicks basketball.
What Brunson has accomplished in just three seasons, however, can't be praised enough—and has officially enabled him to join the ranks of the Knicks' all-time greats.
Julius Randle deserves credit for helping Tom Thibodeau make the Knicks worth discussing again, but it's been Brunson who has elevated the franchise to a status many feared they'd never reattain. After failing to find any form of consistency since 2001, New York is finally a stable contender.
Future series will decide how much further up the all-time list Brunson manages to rise, but no matter what happens from this point forward, his legacy is safe in New York.
Jalen Brunson, Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed: The Knicks' Mount Rushmore
Since Brunson's arrival in New York in 2022, the Knicks have made three consecutive postseason appearances. He's led the team in scoring in each of the past two seasons, and has ranked No. 1 in assists across all three.
For perspective on why that arc is so important to his case: It's the first time since 2013 that the Knicks have made at least three consecutive postseason appearances.
After sinking the dagger into the Detroit Pistons' heart on Thursday, May 1, that feat reached a new level. New York will now head to the second round of the NBA Playoffs for a third straight year—a rare accomplishment for the orange and blue.
The run between 2023 and 2025 marks the first time that the Knicks have escaped the first round in at least three straight tries since 2000.
Brunson has led the Knicks in scoring and assists through all three of those postseason runs. His postseason averages while donning New York's jersey now come out to an unfathomable 30.5 points and 6.9 assists per game.
In the midst of just his third playoff appearance with the Knicks, Brunson is already No. 10 in career postseason points—scoring 329 more than Anthony and 358 more than King in the same number of trips.
Beyond the numbers, what Brunson has done to redefine the identity of the Knicks can't be overstated. He joined a franchise that had made the playoffs just four times in the previous 21 seasons, and has turned it into a perennial postseason competitor—if not an outright contender.
There are cases to be made for multiple players in the fourth spot, but Brunson has the most powerful case of all after just three seasons.