SPANISH HARLEM – Jalen Brunson was named the New York Knicks captain on Tuesday, and I will breakdown what that means for the fans and the locker room. I will say it was somewhat surprising when you consider he is entering his 3rd year with this organization, but it was certainly the right move moving forward.
In a short amount of time, Brunson has become the most respected and loved athlete since Lance Thomas… I’m joking, though he was the last Knick to be named team captain. There is not one bad thing anyone can say about him. He was the leader of this team even before officially holding the title, and the only other player who would be deserving is Juluis Randle.
Randle was considered the best player before Brunson arrived and spearheaded the Knicks back to respectability. He was All-NBA his first season and though he took his lumps in year 2, there is no question he was – at the very least – 1B to Brunson’s 1A. As year 3 progressed, you saw Brunson get better and better, showing in the playoffs that he was “The Guy”, while Randle struggled.
Yes, there were injuries to Randle that maybe led to those struggles in playoffs that year. But with Brunson, night in and night out, he was going to give you what you expected. This is why Jalen deserves all the accolades, all the hype and why he was named the captain. He is well liked, if not beloved by his teammates. The city has embraced him as their own and while it helps that he took a discount extension to remain in New York, it shows that he puts winning primarily.
Your captain doesn’t have to be your best player, as we saw with Lance Thomas, though it certainly does help when he is. He sells jerseys and he makes this team must watch. He is the reason this organization brought in the players they did, which includes trading for Mikal Bridges and re-signed OG Anunoby this year. They are building the team around him and so far, this is the best team the Knicks have had in 20 years. There is no Knick today who would represent this city and team better than Jalen Brunson, our Captain.
That’s it for now, come back tomorrow for Joltin’ Jackson Sternberg.
