NBA Analyst Jay Williams Delivers Bold Take on Jalen Brunson

Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks are two wins away from the NBA Finals following Thursday night’s Game 2 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Brunson, the Knicks’ unquestioned leader, finished Game 2 with 19 points and 14 assists. In Game 1, the veteran point guard led his team on a furious fourth-quarter comeback with a game-high 38 points.

Brunson has already cemented himself as a beloved player in Knicks franchise history. But if New York is able to win its first NBA championship since 1973 with Brunson at the helm, ESPN analyst Jay Williams believes he has a chance to become the No. 1 player in franchise history.

“If they win a championship, I think he has a chance to be the greatest Knick ever,” Williams said. “He has a chance to trend in that direction.”

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The Cavaliers loaded up on Brunson in Game 2, slowing down his scoring production. But the All-Star point guard handled that extra pressure with poise, delivering a playoff career-high 14 assists.

“Obviously we’re loaded up more to him, and he found other guys,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said of Brunson, via ESPN. “We just got to find that balance, but 14 assists, credit to him, right? Took away some of the scoring options, blitzed him, gave him different looks.”

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Brunson has been one of the best players in the entire postseason thus far, averaging 27.6 points per game.

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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 10:49 AM.