Jalen Brunson and his father, Rick Brunson, share a special bond. But despite winning an NBA championship and ending a 53-year drought by leading New York from the front, and winning the Finals MVP, Rick Brunson was not impressed enough by his son Jalen to call him the greatest Knicks player to ever play for the franchise.
While he initially made this assertion on Inside the NBA right after Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Rick Brunson doubled down on his claim that Patrick Ewing is still the greatest Knicks player to ever play, in his opinion.
Both father and son appeared on CBS Mornings and sat down with Gayle King and Nate Burleson to discuss the championship run.
“I would say Patrick Ewing, obviously, as I witnessed, is the greatest right now. All-time leading rebounder, points, yeah, he had all the stats, but just the type of person Pat was, the type of teammate he was, the work ethic is similar. Pat was the hardest-working guy we had, and he was the best player, but Pat did it for 15 years in New York. Jalen did it for four.
“So to me, yeah, I don’t rank these players by championships, although it’s great. Pat’s always been a champion in my book. So right now, another seven years. You can revisit that question, but as of today, you know, big fella is my favorite,” Rick Brunson said when asked about who he thinks is the greatest Knicks player of all time.
The Knicks commemorated the franchise legend, Patrick Ewing, who was reportedly emotional after the celebrations of the championship.
A video of Brunson posing with the Larry O’Brien Trophy and Ewing went viral as fans showed gratitude to Ewing because he arguably laid the foundation of the culture in New York. It also revealed Ewing’s reaction to the championship, showing how delighted he was to celebrate with the team.
“Finally, I get one! Finally, I get one! I get to hold it,” said Ewing in delight as he took pictures with Brunson and the trophies. “We were here in ’99. I had tears of sorrow back then; now I have tears of joy. Now the New York Knicks are finally NBA champions again, go Knicks!” he later added.
“Finally I get one. Finally I get one. I get to hold it”
–– Patrick Ewing pic.twitter.com/v1GMsJuiQI
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) June 17, 2026
The NBA world was in shock to hear Rick Brunson’s initial comments. Former NBA players like Iman Shumpert strongly disagreed with his opinion, saying Clyde Frazier and Jalen Brunson should be the only players in that discussion of the greatest Knicks player of all time because they won a championship.
In a way, I understand why Rick Brunson is saying what he’s saying, because he doesn’t want his son to consider now as his peak and become complacent in any way that he’s no longer consistent.
He’s simply saying if Brunson is able to prove over several years that he can also be consistent and not just peak higher than Ewing did, then he would happily revisit the discussion. If Jalen doesn’t have a problem with it, then neither should anyone else. His father is only pushing him on the track of excellence.
