Knicks Fan Rich: Jalen Brunson Has Already Earned a Spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame

Rich has a message for everyone still framing Jalen Brunson as a question mark: please, keep it up. In his view, Brunson just played his way into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and every skeptical chyron only adds to the chip on the man's shoulder.

The segment opened with a caller, Jeff in Detroit, marveling that he sees people running around Michigan in Knicks jerseys, and calling Brunson the greatest New York sports figure ever. The number that keeps coming up is the money Brunson left on the table, reportedly around $113 million, a sacrifice Rich said is the only reason the Knicks could acquire Karl-Anthony Towns, re-sign OG Anunoby, and surround Brunson the way they did. Rich's wife even shot a reel on the subject for the Women's Sports Now page.

But the heart of the bit was Rich daring the doubters to continue. Keep running the topic bars asking whether Brunson is really a top-five player, whether he's an MVP candidate, whether this was just an eight or ten-week run, Rich said. Please give him another reason to play with an edge. Because in Rich's telling the answer is obvious: Brunson has the most clutch points in the NBA playoffs over the last three seasons, just did what Michael Jordan did, brought a title to New York City, and gave Patrick Ewing the smile of his life.

The crew pushed back that this was a Knicks fan's bias, noting Brunson is actually getting plenty of love and real top-five debate. Someone added ammunition anyway, citing a viral post that Brunson won seven trophies this season alone, from the NBA Cup to its MVP. The counter was that Brunson sits ninth in MVP odds for next year and didn't win those trophies by himself, which is true of any team sport, but Rich wasn't interested in the qualifiers.

The deeper read was that every one of those topic bars carries a subtext not of disbelief over what happened, but doubt that it's sustainable. Rich conceded that's fair criticism, even welcome. Then the show flipped it on him: it's parade day, the drought is over after 53 years, so why is a New Yorker choosing to be annoyed by chyrons? Rich's answer was the most New York thing possible. He's not happy unless he's a little unhappy. He insisted he wasn't falling for the okey-doke, and that he's happy, damn it.