May the awards ceremony commence. Jalen Brunson ’s 26-point performance in the Knicks ’ dismemberment of the
Toronto Raptors on Tuesday marked the star guard’s 65th game of the season. Sixty-five games is the NBA’s new minimum for a player to be eligible for end-of-the-season awards. This means Brunson is now eligible for the following honors: — All-NBA First, Second or Third Team — NBA Most Valuable Player of the Year — Most Improved Player of the Year The first-time All-Star should be in the running in at least two of the three categories. While MVP honors can usually be reserved for either the best player on the NBA’s best team or the league’s most dominant player in a given season, there is an overwhelming case to be made Brunson deserves some consideration. The Knicks’ standing alone as tied for the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed is evidence enough given the lengthy absences to Julius Randle (dislocated right shoulder) and OG Anunoby (right elbow surgery). Brunson is averaging 27.4 points and 6.5 assists per game on 47.7 percent
shooting from the field and 40.1 percent shooting from three-point range. The Knicks went 11-10 in games Anunoby, Randle and starting center Mitchell Robinson missed due to injury. Brunson’s play kept the team afloat — picking up where he left off in a breakout 2022-23 season after joining the Knicks as a free agent two summers ago. Brunson is averaging three more points per game this season than last and ranks top-15 in fourth-quarter scoring in all of basketball. He has also earned the respect of his teammates and opposing coaches, who each voted Brunson an All-Star starter on the 2024 ballot. The star Knicks guard lost to Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard by roughly 700,000 fan votes and thus just missed on a first career All-Star start. Which makes an attractive case for Most Improved Player of the Year, though Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey appears the runaway candidate after the 76ers traded James Harden to the
Los Angeles Clippers. Like the Knicks, the Sixers remain in the playoff hunt despite MVP center Joel Embiid missing a large chunk of the season due to ameniscus injury. If Brunson can’t score MVP or M-I-P honors, he should be a shoo-in for an All-NBA spot. The panel of voters selects two back court positions for each of the three teams, which means Brunson needs to secure one of six available spots to earn his first-ever All-NBA honors. His competition includes Dallas’ Luka Doncic, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Phoenix’s Devin Booker, Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell and Indianas Tyrese Halliburton. Of those players, however, only Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Curry and Edwards appear to be All-NBA locks. This means Brunson has as good a chance as ever to cap a spectacular individual season with one of the league’s highest individual honors. Right on cue for a player who has helped usher in the most successful era of Knicks
basketball since Carmelo Anthony wore orange and blue.