Jalen Brunson Wins Finals MVP After Historic 45-Point Game 5. Is He a Top-5 Player Now?
Jalen Brunson just dropped 45 points in a Finals-clinching game, walked off with the Bill Russell Trophy, and forced the entire NBA media ecosystem to reconsider where exactly he sits in the league hierarchy.
The Game 5 performance was an instant classic. Brunson scored from everywhere. He hit pull-up threes. He went into the lane against San Antonio’s length and finished through Wembanyama. He shot 16 of 22 from the field. He played 41 minutes and never looked tired.
It was the kind of closeout game that lives in highlight reels forever. The way he handled the Spurs’ size, the way he made every single big shot when the Knicks needed it, the way the Garden crowd reached a noise level that hadn’t been measured before. Brunson did not just win the trophy. He earned the all-time-great validation in real time.
So the question now is whether Brunson is a top-5 NBA player. A few months ago, that would have sounded ridiculous. He wasn’t even first-team All-NBA last year. Now he’s a Finals MVP playing on a championship team with multiple All-Stars.
The case for top 5 is straightforward. He’s the best pure scorer at his position in the league. He just outplayed Wembanyama in a Finals. He’s a top-three point guard in winning, and the only point guards anywhere near him in current production are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic.
The case against is also real. He’s not an elite defender. He’s not a top-tier playmaker by traditional point guard standards. He plays in the Eastern Conference, which is statistically weaker than the West right now. Top-5 status traditionally requires both end of the floor impact, and Brunson doesn’t quite have that yet.
Then again, championship results have a way of rewriting hierarchies. Brunson now has the same number of Finals MVPs as Kawhi Leonard during his Toronto run. He has more recent Finals appearances than Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, and Damian Lillard combined. Hardware matters in this argument.
The marketing impact of this MVP is going to be massive. Brunson is one of the most likable star players in the league, has Madison Square Garden behind him, and just delivered the title New York has been begging for. National sponsors are about to back up the truck.
His contract situation is the next conversation. Brunson famously left money on the table to stay in New York and help the team manage the cap. He’s now eligible for an extension that could finally bring his salary in line with his actual value. The Knicks are absolutely going to pay him.
The bigger Brunson conversation is about legacy. He’s 29. He just won his first ring. He has runway. If the Knicks can repeat with this core, Brunson moves from top-5 conversation into top-3 conversation, and the historic comparisons start getting serious.
For now, he’s the best basketball story in the country. Underrated as a high schooler, overlooked at Villanova, drafted in the second round by Dallas, traded essentially for nothing, and then turned into a Finals MVP with the New York Knicks.
If anyone tries to leave him off a top-5 list next month, you can tell them about Game 5.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
