If you're not a New York Knicks fan and were asked who the top-three players in the NBA MVP conversation will be, odds are it'd be a combination of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, and Luka Dončić. If you are a Knicks fan and were asked that same question, odds are that you'd say Jalen Brunson, Jalen Brunson, and Jalen Brunson.
The truth is that Brunson can win MVP. He's the leader of a team that made it to the conference finals last year for the first time since 2000. That wasn't good enough for the Knicks, as the team fired Tom Thibodeau, replacing him with Mike Brown. New York is determined to end its 50+ year championship drought.
The NBA MVP award is decided during the regular season, though.
The Athletic polled three of its writers, with one of the questions being who is "primed" to win MVP (subscription required), outside of SGA, Jokić, and Luka. William Guillory said Brunson. His reasoning?
"If he can string together some big fourth-quarter performances on a 60-win Knicks team, the New York hype machine will do whatever it takes to make sure Brunson is at the forefront of the MVP discussion."
Not everyone seems to think so, though (cough ESPN cough cough).
Does Jalen Brunson really have a shot at winning MVP?
New York won at least 50 games in the past two seasons, the first time that had been done in back-to-back seasons since the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons. The Knicks went 51-31 last season. It may seem like a stretch to think New York can finish the 2025-26 season with nine more wins, but it's not, given the state of the East.
Boston will be without Jayson Tatum for most of the season (it's worth noting that he's in the midst of an unprecedented recovery), and Indiana will be without Tyrese Haliburton. Milwaukee has Giannis Antetokounmpo, but not only is his future in Wisconsin a question mark, but so is the team's roster.
New York's top competition in the East should be Cleveland. The Cavaliers finished last season with a 64-18 record. Their regular-season success with Donovan Mitchell hasn't translated to the playoffs, but again, MVP is a regular-season award. We're not talking Finals MVP, but go ahead and put Brunson's name down for that, too (please!).
Depending on how the Knicks fare, and how the West shakes out, there is a real chance that Brunson could do what wasn't on anyone's radar when he was drafted in the second round in 2018 — win MVP. He's been in the MVP conversation for the past couple of years, finishing fifth in voting in 2024.
If there was ever a season to do it, it's this one.