The New York Knicks have won an NBA championship for the first time in 53 years. The Finals MVP title was subsequently and deservedly awarded to point guard Jalen Brunson.
The guard averaged 32.6 points over the five games. The 29-year-old set his personal best in the decisive Game 5, where he led all players with 45 points—only twice in NBA history has a player scored more points in a closeout game.
“I can’t even describe what I’m feeling right now,” Brunson said into the ABC microphone after the game. “I’m just in shock, I don’t know. Whenever anyone wrote us off, we found a way to do something about it.”
Brunson himself had been criticized time and again in the past. Particularly because of his height of 1.85 meters, there were long-standing doubts about whether he had what it takes to lead a team to the top of the league. He has likely silenced those critics.
“Every time I held the ball in my hands, all I could think about were all those hours in the gym. Every summer I put so much work into making this a reality.”
Brunson is now the third consecutive guard to win the Finals MVP Award. In previous years, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City) and Jaylen Brown (Boston) had won the so-called “Bill Russell” Trophy.
