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In his second season with the New York Knicks, Jalen Brunson is putting forth the best basketball of his career so far, continuing to lead his team to fourth place (42-28 record) in the Eastern Conference standings. Amid the success, team legend Patrick Ewing shared his close family bond with Brunson, as per an interview.
Knowing someone since they were just two years old does guarantee you would know how great they are going to be. However, there was a sense of pride and accomplishment for Ewing knowing Brunson that long and to see him blossom into the kind of player that he is today.
"I've known him since he was 2 years old," Ewing said. " He wouldn't leave my locker. ... I took the Knicks back to Jamaica one summer. ... My daughter sent a picture of both her and him. ... I sent it on to Rick [Brunson] ... something great."
Now that Brunson is a part of the franchise, he has changed the team's reputation once more and made them a serious contender in the Eastern Conference, following years of rebuild.
Despite not bringing home an NBA Championship to the New York Knicks, Patrick Ewing's 1990s team remains one of the prime examples of how electric New York basketball can be. Luckily for them, Jalen Brunson has arrived and is making sure that kind of energy lives on in this new era.
Charles Barkley praises Jalen Brunson for making the Knicks relevant since Patrick Ewing
Speaking on TNT's "NBA on TNT," Phoenix Suns legend Charles Barkley had high praise for what Jalen Brunson has done for the New York Knicks franchise, since the prime playing days of Patrick Ewing.
"I said this last year, I can't believe what a great player he's turned into," Barkley said. "... He's one of the best signings I've ever seen for a free agent. Nobody knew he was going to be that good. ... What Jalen Brunson did for the Knicks, he made the New York Knicks relevant for the first time since Patrick Ewing."
Back when Ewing was playing for New York, they were one of the best teams in the East. The current team plays with a sense of edge and toughness similar to that of Ewing's days. It has earned New York a reputation of being a team that doesn't roll over for anybody and competes on a nightly basis.
Jalen Brunson started his NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks, when they selected him 33rd overall in the 2018 draft. In his four seasons in Dallas, he was seen as a quality role player who was capable of putting up big numbers every now and then alongside Luka Doncic.
However, when New York acquired him on July 12, 2022, on a four-year, $104 million deal, he wasn't definitively viewed as a franchise-caliber player who could lead the team to a postseason run. With how much he's proven his doubters wrong, he continues to thrive as the face of the franchise with the goal of securing an NBA title sometime soon.
