Rap artist Fat Joe believes 2024 All-Star guard Jalen Brunson is on the verge of becoming the greatest New York Knicks player in franchise history.
“[Jalen’s] so close to being the greatest Knick ever,” the rap legend told Babcock on the “TMZ Sports” TV show on FS1, while also adding, “So close, and in such short time.”
NBA Hall of Famers Patrick Ewing, Willis Reed, and Walt Clyde Frazier are generally considered to be the greatest Knicks players ever. Brunson could soon join that list if he continues to set NBA records.
Fat Joe, 53, was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, and has been a loyal Knicks fan through the good years and the bad ones, but it has mostly been through the bad.
The Knicks haven’t advanced to the NBA Finals since 1999, and they’ve had five first-round playoff series losses since then. New York also hasn’t appeared in the Eastern Conference finals since 2000.
Fortunately, the 2023-24 Knicks are advancing to the second round of the NBA playoffs to play the Indiana Pacers after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.
Fat Joe praised Jalen Brunson after he set a new Knicks playoff franchise record with 47 points in Game 4
The Knicks reached the second round in consecutive years for the first time since the postseasons from 1992-2000, largely in part due to Brunson’s heroics.
Brunson became the first Knicks player to score 40 points or more in each of the final three games of a series since Bernard King 40 years ago.
In Game 4, Brunson set a new Knicks franchise playoff record with 47 points. The Villanova product passed King (46 points in April 1984), Ewing (45 on May 12, 1990), Reed (43 on May 6, 1984), and Carmelo Anthony (42 on April 19, 2011).
The six-year veteran also became the first NBA player to score 40 or more to close out a series since Michael Jordan for the Chicago Bulls against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1989.
All Brunson is missing now is an NBA championship.
“If he wins the championship, that’s it, it’s over. And, you know, shout out to Clyde Frazier. Shout out to all the Bernard Kings, the Melos,” Joe said, adding, “But Jalen Brunson, man, we getting to see this in real-time.”
Moreover, the Knicks finished their first-round series against Philadelphia with a point differential of +1. It’s the first time since 2006 that a first-round series ended with a differential of one point or less.
It was all made possible during the 2022 offseason, when Brunson signed a four-year, $104 million deal with the Knicks in free agency after spending his first four seasons with the Dallas Mavericks.
“That was the best pickup we ever had as a Knick,” Fat Joe added.
