Jalen Brunson is about to make NBA history that has nothing to do with shots, assists, or championships. He is going to be part of the first father-son duo to ever play in the NBA Finals for the same franchise.
Rick Brunson played for the Knicks in the 1999 NBA Finals. The Knicks lost that series to the Spurs. Twenty-seven years later, Jalen is suiting up for New York in the 2026 NBA Finals against the same Spurs franchise.
You cannot script this kind of basketball storyline.
Jalen Brunson got here the hard way. He was a second-round pick at Dallas. He was the backup behind Luka Doncic. He went to New York on a deal that most around the league thought was overpaid. He proved every doubt wrong, became an All-NBA point guard, and led the Knicks back to the Finals for the first time since his dad’s team got there.
His Eastern Conference Finals MVP performance was the moment that locked all of this in. He averaged 26.9 points, 6.6 assists, and 2.8 rebounds through the postseason run. He swept Cleveland in the conference finals and dropped 16 points in the clinching Game 4. He has been the most consistent superstar on either side of the bracket.
The matchup he is about to walk into is going to be the test of his career. Stephon Castle is one of the best young perimeter defenders in the league and is going to draw the Brunson assignment. Castle has the size, the length, and the lateral quickness to make every Brunson possession a battle. This is the kind of matchup that decides the series.
What Brunson does best is play in the in-between spots. He uses screens. He gets to mid-range. He finishes through contact. Castle’s instinct is going to be to switch hard and use his length. Brunson’s counter is going to be to hunt mismatches against Wemby in switches, which is one of the few areas the Spurs are vulnerable.
The Rick Brunson piece is more than just a storyline. Rick is on the Knicks coaching staff. He has been working with Jalen since he was little. The two of them have been preparing for this kind of moment their entire lives. The Finals is the payoff.
Rick has talked publicly about how surreal it is. He lost his Finals as a player. Now his son is trying to win one for the same franchise. The history is going to be the storyline ESPN beats to death over the next two weeks. For good reason. It is a great story.
The Knicks are 53-29 against San Antonio’s 62-20 in the regular season. The Spurs are favored. The line is San Antonio by 4.5 in Game 1. The odds are not on New York’s side, but the Knicks have a chance.
What gives the Knicks a chance is Brunson. He is the kind of star who does not lose his head in big moments. He has been clutch all season. He hit big shots in the Cleveland series. He is going to put up 25-plus a night against the Spurs and force them to win it on the other end.
For New York, this is the long-awaited return. The Knicks fanbase has waited 27 years. The 1999 Finals was a Cinderella run that ended quickly. The 2026 Finals is a different beast. The Knicks are not Cinderella. They are the deserving Eastern Conference Champions.
Jalen Brunson is going to write the next chapter of his family’s NBA Finals story. The Spurs are in the way again. History is on the line for both teams.
Wednesday night is going to be special.
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.
