It took about three hours for Jalen Brunson’s NBA Finals Game 1 jersey to crack the $200,000 mark at auction. Not bad for a jersey from a game where he shot under 40 percent from the floor.
The Knicks won that opener in San Antonio, 118-108, despite Brunson going 12-for-31. He still put up 30 points, three rebounds, and two assists. But the bidding isn’t really about that particular night. It’s about what came after.
Brunson got better as the series went on. Way better. He dropped 36 in Game 4, part of a 29-point comeback that felt like the moment the Knicks grabbed control. Then in Game 5, he went for 45 points on better than 50 percent shooting and locked up both the championship and the Finals MVP award. The Knicks hadn’t won a title since 1973. A lot of people in New York hadn’t even been born yet.
What’s the current bid look like?
As of this writing, the Brunson jersey has drawn more than 50 bids and crossed $200,000. The auction closes on July 8 at 9:31 p.m. EST. So if you’ve got deep pockets and a deep attachment to Knicks history, you still have time.
For comparison, Victor Wembanyama’s Game 3 jersey from that same finals series is sitting at around $42,000 right now. The Spurs lost that game but Wemby’s memorabilia still moves. Just not at Brunson’s level.
Brunson averaged 32.6 points across the five games. That’s not just a hot streak, that’s an all-timer performance in a finals run. And the market is treating it accordingly. The guy came to New York as a free agent in 2022 and within a few seasons became the face of the franchise, a folk hero in a city that has been starved for basketball glory for half a century.
Why this jersey matters more than most
Game-worn stuff from title teams always sells. But this one has a couple things working in its favor. First, it’s from the first finals game the Knicks had played in since 1999. Second, Brunson isn’t just a star, he’s the guy who dragged them there. The Knicks didn’t have a second star step up every night. They rode Brunson. And when he struggled to start a game, he figured it out in the third quarter or the fourth.
That Game 5 was the capstone. The Spurs pushed back but Brunson kept answering. The crowd in San Antonio went quiet well before the final buzzer. The Knicks took the trophy on the road, which is rare. And now a piece of that run is available to whoever wants it most.
The auction runs through early July. The $200,000 mark was hit fast. It’s not hard to guess where this ends up.
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