Knicks Notes: Brunson, Robinson, Rose, Sacrifice

Jalen Brunson accomplished something no other Knick has since the turn of the millennium, leading New York to the Finals for a shot at bringing home the first Knicks championship since 1973. For the people who have watched him the most, this success is only natural, given the makeup of who he is as a player.

“He has an iron will. He’s not tall, he’s not fast, he’s not overly athletic. But he’s one of the mentally strongest players I’ve ever been around,” said longtime Knicks and ESPN broadcaster Mike Breen in an interview with Steve Serby of the New York Post. “They talk about Michael Jordan, they talk about Kobe Bryant … in terms of mental toughness, I’d put him up there with anybody.”

Breen, who has worked alongside Knicks legend Walt Frazier for years, says that regardless of whether or not the Knicks beat the Spurs, Brunson has put himself in the conversation for the greatest Knick of all time, despite only being with the team for four seasons.

Brunson is also making a special kind of history, as his appearance in the Finals marks the first time that a father-son duo both played in the NBA Finals for the same team, the NBA tweeted. Brunson’s father and Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson played for the Knicks in their 1999 Finals matchup against, coincidentally, the Spurs. The elder Brunson played just 10 seconds in the series as a bench depth piece, while the younger Brunson’s responsibilities will be considerably greater.

We have more news and notes from the Knicks:

• According to head coach Mike Brown, Mitchell Robinson did some individual work during the Knicks’ practice today, per Stefan Bondy of the Post (Twitter link). Brown said he wasn’t sure exactly what Robinson is wearing to protect his pinkie, which recently underwent surgery, nor could he provide an availability update for Game 1. The Knicks’ back-up big man figures to play a crucial role in the series, if healthy, as his size, defensive ability, and offensive rebounding could be a critical part of New York’s plan to deal with Victor Wembanyama.
• Team president Leon Rose took over a Knicks team that was in the midst of what would end up being a 21-45 season that was cut short by COVID. The first decision he made was to hire Tom Thibodeau to lead the team into what he hoped would be a resurgence of competitiveness. That was move 1 of 160 that brought the team from perpetual bottom-feeder to NBA Finalists, Mike Vaccaro writes for the Post. While there were a couple of missteps, such as the summer of Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, he was able to quickly fix his own mistakes as easily as he moved on from previous mistakes.
• If there’s one word that describes the makeup of this Knicks team, it’s sacrifice — so much so that the door of the team locker room has a “Standard of a Champion” contract signed by every player and coach, Jared Schwartz writes for the Post.  “My willingness to sacrifice at the highest level for the team, on and off the floor will represent my dedication to our collective objective,” says the first clause in the contract. The players have taken that to heart, whether it’s Karl-Anthony Towns sacrificing shots in order to help facilitate the team offense, Jordan Clarkson shifting from the run-and-gun style he played in Utah to hustling for offensive rebounds and intensifying his defensive intensity, or Robinson being willing to play as few or as many minutes as needed, despite being one of the premier defensive big men in the league. “Being unselfish, I think that’s the biggest thing,” Josh Hart said. “And where we’re at right now, everyone is unselfish. We’re willing to sacrifice numbers and stats for the betterment of the team. And I think when we do that, we’re playing our best basketball.”