Kristian Winfield: Knicks' Jalen Brunson earns King of New York status

Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News on May 25, 2026

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CLEVELAND — Jalen Brunson is on the cover of the New Yorker, and it’s clear the revered publication has crowned the Knicks’ star the king of the City.

The local magazine printed a large drawing of Brunson on the cover of its June 1 edition with franchise legends Patrick Ewing, Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Carmelo Anthony, Bernard King, Dave DeBusschere, Earl Monroe, John Starks, Willis Reed and Charles Oakley drawn significantly smaller beneath him.

Five years ago, the same publication crowned the former Brooklyn Nets Big Three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden the kings of New York via magazine cover art. They were larger fixtures as ex-Knicks R.J. Barrett and Julius Randle trailed in the background.

Five years later, the Nets are nowhere to be found as the Knicks, as of Monday morning, needed one more Eastern Conference finals win over the Cavaliers to punch the franchise’s first ticket to the NBA Finals since 1999 — under Brunson’s leadership.

“Obviously he’s very humble, and he’s not gonna make too much of it until he retires,” said Josh Hart, Brunson’s longtime friend and two-time teammate dating back to their NCAA championship run at Villanova. “But it’s cool for him to get that recognition.”

Brunson, who earned Second Team All-NBA honors this season, averaged 26 points and 6.8 assists on 47% shooting from the field and 37% shooting from 3-point range during the regular season. In the playoffs, heading into Monday's game, he was averaging 27.8 points and 6.7 assists on 49% shooting from the field and 35% shooting from downtown.

“He’s done an amazing job. He’s done an amazing job every single night showing up and doing,” teammate Karl-Anthony Towns said. “He deserves the credit, deserves the recognition. I’m glad he’s getting it. And it’s an honor to be part of that.”

Holy snub

The Knicks woke up Monday morning with a 3-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals — and just one player on an All-NBA team.

Brunson earned Second Team All-NBA honors, but Towns was a glaring omission for a Knicks team riding an 10-game playoff winning streak.

Towns is a six-time All-Star who’s made Third Team All-NBA three times in his career, including last season in New York. This year, his numbers dropped to averages of 20 points, 12 rebounds and three assists on one of the worst 3-point shooting seasons of his career under Mike Brown.

And yet with just one All-NBA selection, the Knicks are headed to new heights as an organization.

“It talks about our team, that we’re selfless. We want to do whatever it takes for the betterment of our team and organization and winning,” Towns said after Monday morning shootaround. “It just shows that it’s a collective effort getting the job done every single night for New York. And it speaks volumes to this team.”

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The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder are in a Western Conference finals slugfest tied at two apiece. Which means with a sweep of the Cavaliers on Monday, the Knicks would once again earn additional rest time before their next playoff series.

The Knicks swept the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round and got nine days off before facing a Cavs team with one day of rest following a grueling seven-game series against the Detroit Pistons.

“It’s huge. Obviously a team like Cleveland played two seven-game series, so you’re playing four more games than we played and a couple of our games were blowouts and we didn’t play too many minutes,” Hart said. “Obviously that works in your benefit and you want to get as much rest as you can. I think it’s a sweet spot of getting enough rest but you don’t get rusty. We want to get that as much as we possibly can.”

Game 1 of the NBA Finals is scheduled for June 3, which would give the Knicks eight days of rest if the conference finals ends in a sweep.