Jalen Brunson stepped to the podium after the NBA Cup Finals win with hardware in hand, but his focus never drifted toward individual recognition. Even after being named Finals MVP almost unanimously, the Knicks guard framed the night as a reflection of collective effort rather than personal achievement.
“OG Anunoby, Tyler Kolek, Jordan Clarkson, Mitchell Robinson, they played their ass off tonight,” Brunson said. “Without them, we don’t win this sh*t.”
The Knicks have been on fire this season and dominated the NBA Cup tournament, beating the Raptors and Magic. This final game against San Antonio marked their latest statement, though still only part of a larger body of work.
Brunson made it clear that the title carried meaning, but not finality. While celebrating, he emphasized that the NBA Cup represents progress rather than a finished product, and that the Knicks still view growth as the priority.
“I’m very excited,” Brunson said after the win. “It’s a goal of ours that we get to check off. It’s an important stepping stone for us. We can still learn from this game and get better as well… In a game like this, where it’s basically win or go home, you have guys step up, you have guys that play really well, and you have guys that pick up the slack for me, who wasn’t shooting the ball well.”
Brunson finished as the Knicks’ second-leading scorer against the Spurs with 25 points, four rebounds, eight assists, zero steals, and one block on 40.7 percent shooting, including 1-for-5 from three. He was surpassed only by OG Anunoby, who posted 28 points, nine rebounds, three assists, zero steals, and one block on 58.8 percent shooting, going 5-for-10 from deep. Jordan Clarkson added 15 points off the bench, along with two rebounds, zero assists, one steal, and one block on 40.0 percent shooting.
When asked whether an experience like this could help the Knicks reach bigger goals down the line, Brunson pointed to the pressure of the moment. In a win-or-go-home setting, the response from his teammates mattered far more than any individual stat line, a sign of maturity from the veteran guard.
Moments like these, according to Brunson, are where confidence is truly built. Seeing teammates rise to the occasion when things are not going smoothly gives the group the belief that it can win in different ways, a feeling he described as more exciting than any personal accolade.
Ultimately, for the Knicks, the NBA Cup title feels less like a finish line and more like confirmation. It reinforced the belief that this group can win in different ways, even when its star is not at his best. If that mentality carries forward, this run may be remembered as the moment New York truly announced itself as a contender.
