There was a battle of stars in the Valley on Friday night, as the New York Knicks took on the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center. In the end, however, only one star shone the brightest. And in a game with All-Stars Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Julius Randle, it was Jalen Brunson who stole the show by putting up the best game of his career for the Knicks in their 139-122 win over the Suns.

Brunson simply cannot be stopped; the game was still close in the fourth quarter, but that was when the Knicks guard decided to take it upon himself to seal the victory for the road team. He scored 16 points in the final frame on perfect shooting from the field (5-5 overall, 3-3 from deep), ending up with an eye-popping 50 points on the night. In fact, he finished with a perfect 9-9 showing from deep as well, which is quite remarkable.

In light of this superstar performance from Jalen Brunson, Knicks fans fired up the All-Star hype train for the talented guard whom many believe should have made the team last season anyway.

“50 points on 9-of-9 shooting from deep for Jalen Brunson. The Knicks beat the Suns and Brunson is well on his way to this year’s All-Star Game, an honor he was snubbed of last season,” ClutchPoints NBA beat reporter Brett Siegel wrote. One fan added: “There are really people out there who don't think Jalen Brunson is an All-Star. And they're dead wrong.”

Jalen Brunson, ever since moving to the Knicks last season, has shown that he does deserve to be included in the All-Star game. Now, putting up a 50-burger on national television should do wonders for his chances of making it to Indianapolis.

“Annoying that this is the case, but the fact that this game is on national TV is HUGE for Jalen Brunson’s All-Star/All-NBA case,” one fan pointed out.

The contract the Knicks signed Jalen Brunson to is turning out to be an absolute bargain. Brunson showed during the 2023 NBA playoffs that he really might be him, and this 50-point performance against the Suns is further proof that he is an absolute force to be reckoned with whose efforts must be validated with his first-ever All-Star game appearance.