Shortly after the New York Knicks won their first NBA championship in 53 years, Jalen Brunson underwent left wrist surgery. Less than a month later, in his own words, he’s already “back at it.”
“I’m already back at it,” he said during an interview at Fanatics Fest. “I’m back at it…I’m already in the gym. I’m doing whatever I can to make sure I’m good once this [cast] is off.”
As if we need any further proof the reigning Finals MVP is a caps-lock SICKO.
Brunson did note that he’s limited in what he can do, and will remain so for another few weeks. But he also reiterated that he doesn’t expect this to be a long process, saying “I should be good.”
This is all fantastic news under the circumstances. Brunson had been playing with this injury since early in the Eastern Conference Finals at the very least. The comments he’s making on his recovery suggest he didn’t do any extensive damage by powering through, and equally important, that he’ll be ready for the start of next season.
Injury updates don’t get much more welcomed than that. But this takes on new meaning when you consider what happened to Jalen Williams and the Oklahoma City Thunder just last season.
Offseason injury recoveries are no joke
J-Dub was playing on a bum right wrist throughout the Thunder’s 2025 postseason push. The injury visibly impacted his performance, but OKC won the title anyway. Despite his struggles, he was an integral part of that run.
Like Brunson this year, J-Dub also underwent offseason surgery. Except, his recovery was not complication-free. He needed a subsequent procedure to remove a screw in his wrist that was causing irritation, and ended up missing the first 20 games of the season.
From there, various hamstring injuries limited the Thunder’s second-most important player to just 33 appearances. He also missed the vast majority of their postseason push. J-Dub logged a total of 17 minutes across two appearances in OKC’s final five games against the San Antonio Spurs. It’s no wonder the reigning champs fell.
We can’t definitively tie J-Dub’s hamstring issues to his initial wrist surgery. But limiting his offseason activity only to have him ramp up when the season already started couldn’t have been ideal.
If Brunson was forced to follow a similar timeline, this type of scenario would be in the back, if not at the top of, everyone’s minds. Especially when you consider the number of ankle stingers he’s needed to play through.
Jalen Brunson and the Knicks may have avoided disaster
Fortunately for the Knicks and their trend-setting superstar, it doesn’t look like this will be much of a concern.
Sure, it’s much too early to declare Brunson totally fine, and guarantee there will be no ill effects heading into next season. You better believe we all, as a family, will be monitoring the percentages on his jumpers as closely as fitness influencers track their caloric intakes.
Still, the fact that he’s already back in the gym, no matter how limited his workouts may be, warrants a huge sigh of relief.
For as deep as the Knicks are, for as much as Karl-Anthony Towns transformed into a legitimate co-star, this team will continue to go as far as Brunson can carry it. Missing him for any time, at all, to start the year would be a concern—not for those early-season absences themselves, but for the subsequent risks and vulnerabilities they could portend.
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