Jalen Brunson is getting plenty of warm love for this season’s Most Improved Player award. Despite it seems that Lauri Markkanen and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have emerged as favorites, the combo guard has his own solid case for the honor given the magic he brought this year for the New York Knicks.
Though winning the award is enticing, Brunson made it known that it’s not his main priority after all.
“It’s a unique award,” Brunson told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “It’s not something I’m really focused on 100 percent. I don’t really think about it but if it’s something I win or achieve, I’ll be very thankful.
“But it’s not on the forefront of my mind.”
Upon the arrival of Brunson to the Big Apple in a highly-publicized free-agency last offseason, the Knicks have enjoyed an elevated success. As the team’s focal floor general, he served as the driving force of their reappearance in the playoffs, winning 45 wins and counting.
With him running the show in New York, Brunson also salivated the chance of being outside Luka Doncic’s shadow in the Dallas Mavericks, improving his points average to 24 from 16.3 last season, while also dishing out more with 6.2 assists – a career-high.
Given the Knicks’ reemergence, coach Tom Thibodeau mainly cited the winning impact of Brunson on why he believes that his star point man is deserving to win the MIP award this 2022-23.
“I think the one thing when you look at him, wherever he’s been, whether it was high school, college, the pros, there’s been significant jumps every season,” Thibodeau said. “And that’s a testament to him and his willingness to grow and learn and work. His work ethic is off the charts. …He’ll get better every year. And so we were confident that he could do this. …He’s improved his scoring by eight points a game. He’s taking twice as many threes. He’s shooting almost 42% from three. He’s getting to the line, he’s doubled his free throw attempts. There’s significant things that he’s done.
“But I would say the most important thing is what he’s contributed to winning. And that’s always been his biggest attribute.”
The Knicks’ success this year can only be credited to Brunson’s production and career shift toward an All-Star-level. It is yet to be seen if he will snatch the Most Improved award, but he certainly deserves his own flowers for making wonders not only for his individual career but also for his team’s development.
