Left hand in a splint, Jalen Brunson remained true to himself after the sad elimination of the Knicks following a Game 7 dominated by the Pacers in his garden in New York. It was his hard work ethic and determination that made him the franchise player he became. So out of the question for him to be satisfied with this hot result.
When he was handed the first microphone, Rick Brunson's son shared his frustration, bluntly conceding that the Knicks' 2023/24 season would remain a failure…
” No “, he retorted when asked if this season was still a success. “Did we win the title? Did we get close? No ! So for me, it's not a successful season. This is my state of mind. That’s how I see it (…). We are making progress. We just have to do more.”
More determined than ever
Words which will inevitably echo those made by Giannis Antetokounmpo last year and will once again fuel the debate on the notion of success at the highest level of professional sport. As for Jalen Brunson, there is no question of changing his philosophy one iota. Which means that as soon as his broken left hand is treated, we will find him in the gym working, again and again, with the aim of progressing, and the objective of winning a title.
“Every year I approach the summer asking myself how I can improve as a player, in order to be the most complete player possible”he added. “It's clear that there will be a lot of things to do, basic exercises, physically and other things that I could do to be better. The most important thing is to continue to strive for perfection, knowing that I will never achieve it. My head tells me that I have to improve every day. I don't care what I did as a player, it doesn't mean anything. … I’m going to train this summer to be better.”
Jalen Brunson soon extended at full price?
His injury to his left hand will not help him to train straight away, nor to turn the page, and he will have to be patient. This injury also does not explain his overall failed Game 7 until this twist of fate, when he wanted to stop Tyrese Haliburton on the counter-attack.
“I just thought I jammed my wrist to be honest. And when I looked, I knew something was wrong.”he confided, before self-criticizing his last match of the season. “We can remember that I was injured during Game 7, but I was not playing well until then in this match. We went 2-0 and then 3-2 in the series, it's just hard to look at things individually when you're not helping your team.”
While waiting to be able to train at 100% again, Jalen Brunson will perhaps take advantage of his break away from the field to study a possible contract extension with the proposal of 156.5 million over four years that the Knicks could formulate. “We’ll talk about it another time,” he concluded.
| Jalen Brunson | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2018-19 | DAL | 73 | 22 | 46.7 | 34.8 | 72.5 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 9.3 |
| 2019-20 | DAL | 57 | 18 | 46.6 | 35.8 | 81.3 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 8.2 |
| 2020-21 | DAL | 68 | 25 | 52.3 | 40.5 | 79.5 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 12.6 |
| 2021-22 | DAL | 79 | 32 | 50.2 | 37.3 | 84.0 | 0.5 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 16.3 |
| 2022-23 | NYK | 68 | 35 | 49.1 | 41.6 | 82.9 | 0.6 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 6.2 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 24.0 |
| 2023-24 | NYK | 77 | 35 | 47.9 | 40.1 | 84.7 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 6.7 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 28.7 |
| Total | 422 | 28 | 48.9 | 39.1 | 82.4 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 4.7 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 16.9 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
