Tag: jalen brunson

Jalen Brunson wins 2024-25 NBA Clutch Player of Year award

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson is the recipient of the Jerry West Trophy as winner of the 2024-25 NBA Clutch Player of the Year award.

The award, which was first presented in the 2022-23 season, honors the NBA player who best comes through for his teammates late in close games. A global media panel of 100 voters selected the winner based on nominations from NBA head coaches.

In the 2024-25 regular season, Brunson averaged an NBA-high 5.6 points in clutch situations, which are defined as possessions in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points. In those instances, he also led the league in field goals made (52) and ranked second in total points (156) and third in total assists (28).

Brunson shot 51.5% from the field and 84.0% from the free throw line in clutch time. In the 28 clutch games in which he played, the Knicks had a record of 17-11.

Overall, Brunson averaged 26.0 points and 7.3 assists in 35.4 minutes in 65 games this season. He ranked eighth in the NBA in both points and assists per game. Brunson was selected as an NBA All-Star for the second season in a row.

NBA penalizes Knicks for early free agency discussions on Jalen Brunson

The NBA announced today the New York Knicks violated league rules governing the timing of this season’s free agency discussions and that the league has rescinded New York’s own second-round pick in the 2025 Draft.

From the league: “This outcome reflected a finding, following an investigation, that the Knicks engaged in free agency discussions involving Jalen Brunson prior to the date when such discussions were permitted. The team fully cooperated with the investigation.”

Per the New York Post, “the Knicks signed Brunson to a four-year, $104 contract, and he has been worth every penny so far, leading the Knicks to an 18-13 record and their current eight-game winning streak.”

Jalen Brunson makes debut for Knicks

Here’s the New York Post on the big Knicks off-season addition, Jalen Brunson:

Jalen Brunson’s first night as a Knick wasn’t perfect. It didn’t end in victory. It featured some key missed shots late in regulation and overtime that could’ve changed the final result and early foul trouble that factored into the Knicks’ poor first half.

But it also showed why team president Leon Rose and coach Tom Thibodeau went all-out to land him. He fits into what they are trying to build in a mentally strong, tough and determined team. He shook off a poor start and played his best basketball in the second half, keying the Knicks’ rally from 19 points down. He didn’t force shots and got the Knicks into their offense, creating transition opportunities when they were there. He made game-saving plays in the final seconds of regulation, setting up Cam Reddish for a game-tying 3-pointer with 3 seconds left, then drawing a charge on Ja Morant with 0.5 seconds to go. He finished with 15 points, nine assists and zero turnovers.

FULL ARTICLE

On the Warriors and Mavericks Western Conference Finals matchup

The 2022 Western Conference Finals, featuring the Golden State Warriors against the Dallas Mavericks, begin tonight. Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle on the Mavs:

Luka Doncic, the sort of generational talent who can drag mediocre teams to first-round exits through sheer excellence, is now balling lock-step with his supporting cast, most of whom are stepping up at critical moments. The first round was a Jalen Brunson coming out party. Dorian Finney-Smith, who has spent years percolating in the organization, is a rangy wing with great defensive chops who is shooting the 3 at just under a 40% clip. Reggie Bullock is a more than serviceable professional basketball player with cool hair (he’s shooting it pretty well too). And then there’s Maxi Kleber, the pesky floor-stretching German big who can and probably will punish this often disengaged Warriors team.

The Mavericks in general are built to punish the disengaged, to chase down the weak links again and again, as they showed so memorably against Chris Paul, going at him disrespectfully hard, eventually grinding him to future Hall of Fame dust. They will score off of sloppy turnovers. They have, and will again, put Steph Curry in a half-court dungeon. The Warriors will need to be crafty, perhaps even mean-spirited with their adjustments. Jason Kidd, who will be barking on the sideline like some mix of a Sea Lion and the singer of Sleaford Mods, will make sure his guys know exactly who to exploit, when to trap, how they’ll ram the ball down Golden State’s gullet, and all the best places in Oakland to get a steak. He’s a great communicator, Jason Kidd.

Mavs guard Jalen Brunson undergoes surgery

Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson underwent surgery today to address an injury to the labrum of his right shoulder.

Brunson suffered the injury in the first quarter of the Mavericks game at Atlanta on Feb. 22. The second-year guard has seen action in 57 games (16 starts) for the Mavericks this season with averages of 8.2 points, 3.3 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 17.9 minutes per contest.

No timetable for his return has been set at this time.