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The New York Knicks are 36-18 as the NBA season pauses for NBA All-Star Weekend. It's New York's best record through 54 games since the 1996-97 season, and for good reason, fans in the Big Apple are wondering if this is the year that the Knicks make it back to the NBA Finals for the first time in 26 years.
It would be easy to point to the offseason additions of Karl-Anthony Towns or Mikal Bridges as the primary reason why the Knicks can be taken so seriously as an NBA Title contender, but that would mean we're overlooking the impact of Jalen Brunson, who has been logging big minutes and putting up big numbers in the biggest city in the world over the last two-and-a-half seasons.
But even the success at this high of a level, and a second consecutive NBA All-Star Game appearance to boot, isn't changing Brunson's approach. His inner circle won't let it happen.
“I have a decent circle who keeps me humble,” Brunson told Steve Popper of Newsday. “So no. I think my mindset stays the same where I just want to get better. I know there’s a lot more for me to achieve. I want to win. All the individual stuff is great. I’m really thankful. It’s goals of mine, of course, but the main thing is for me to win. That’s what I focus on. When I focus on that, the individual stuff comes. But my main focus is just winning. It’s always been that way.”
Brunson isn't wrong in that regard. During his three seasons as a member of the Villanova Wildcats, Brunson won a pair of National Championships. Brunson earned National Player of the Year honors in his junior season on Nova's way to a dominant NCAA Tournament performance.
This season Brunson is averaging 26.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game, but he isn't firmly entrenched in the MVP picture like he was during the 2023-24 season. The arrivals of Towns and Bridges have eased the burden on Brunson's shoulders, and thus, resulted in a slight dip in his scoring numbers from last season. At the end of the day though, Brunson is playing to win his first championship at the highest level, and for that reason, he'll remain humble and continue pouring in the work.
“Like I said, you’d be surprised at how humble my circle keeps me, and I love it that way,” Brunson said. “I don’t want to change. I don’t want anything to change about me. The way I was raised, the way I want to raise my kids — to work hard and be humble and do all that stuff. Obviously still be confident in yourself, but understand there’s bigger things and better things to be proud of and accomplish.”
