Four years ago today, on July 19, 2022, Jalen Brunson held his introductory press conference with the media after signing with the Knicks. The then-25-year-old agreed to a four-year deal worth $104 million, which more than a few people viewed as an overpay. His father, Rick, had agreed just a month earlier to join New York as an assistant coach.
Fast-forward four years, and the deal is now viewed as one of the best free-agent signings in NBA history. Now nearly 30 years old, Brunson has faced his fair share of doubters throughout his playing career, largely because of his size and lack of elite athleticism. Despite winning two national championships with Villanova, he wasn’t a first-round selection in the 2018 NBA Draft.
Now, he’s the reigning Finals MVP and the captain of the first Knicks championship team in 53 years. Jalen Brunson will forever go down as a legend in New York sports history.
Legend after just four years
The year before joining the Knicks, in 2021–22, Brunson was a full-time starter with the Mavericks for the first time. He posted solid averages of 16.3 points and 4.8 assists, but those numbers weren’t enough to put him in All-Star conversations.
It was in the 2022 playoffs that he began showcasing his alpha abilities. With Luka Dončić sitting out the first three games of the opening round against the Jazz because of a left calf strain, Brunson averaged 32 points without his superstar backcourt partner, including a 41-point performance in Game 2. Even after Dončić returned, Brunson scored at least 20 points in eight of the remaining 15 playoff games in which they played.
Still, that wasn’t a large enough sample size to prove that he could be the top star on a contending team. Plus, Brunson spent much of the 2021–22 season playing off the ball because he was playing alongside Dončić. Now, he was being paid a large sum of money to serve as New York’s primary ball handler.
Everyone knows how Brunson’s signing was viewed at the time. CBS Sports gave the Knicks a D+ for the deal. Michael Pina, then of Sports Illustrated, gave New York a C. So did Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report. Their follies weren't uniquely incorrect.
But it's now clear, to all, how signing Brunson in 2022 changed the franchise forever. The laughingstock of the league for much of the 21st century is now referred to as a champion. Any regrades of that signing, as well as the subsequent contract Brunson signed in which he sacrificed $37 million, should be no lower than an A+.
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