President Donald Trump didn’t hold back after the New York Knicks finally ended their 53-year championship drought, singling out point guard Jalen Brunson as the breakout star of the NBA Finals.
In a post on Truth Social following the Knicks’ 94-90 Game 5 win over the San Antonio Spurs, Trump offered a full-throated shout-out to Brunson, who dropped 45 points to close out the series and etch his name into league history.
“Congratulations to Jim Dolan and the New York Knicks!!! What a year it has been but, even more so, what incredible playoff wins we have all witnessed, especially the last four – Maybe the greatest in the history of basketball,” Trump wrote, according to Fox News. “Also, tonight, a superstar was born. His name is Jalen Brunson, and there are others, including Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and great Patriot, Mitchell Robinson!”
Trump attended Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, where the crowd greeted him with a cascade of boos. When asked about the reception later, he shrugged it off with characteristic bravado.
“I thought it was great. I mean, I thought it was amazing, actually. You mean when they had the camera on me? I thought it was very good,” Trump said following his appearance. “It was certainly amazing. It was, I think, mostly cheers. It was loud, and it was very enthusiastic.”
Brunson Joins Elite Company
Brunson’s 45-point performance on Saturday night wasn’t just a career high in a Finals closeout game — it placed him in rarefied air alongside Michael Jordan, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Bob Pettit as the only players in NBA history to score 45 or more points to clinch a title. He also broke the Knicks’ franchise record for points in a Finals-clinching game, surpassing Willis Reed’s 38-point effort from 1970.
After the final buzzer, the 28-year-old guard was momentarily at a loss for words while standing on the court as confetti rained down.
“I have no words,” Brunson said. “It’s everything I ever dreamed of.”
The championship marks the Knicks’ first since 1973, snapping a half-century stretch that had become one of the most painful droughts in American sports. Brunson’s emergence as a playoff closer has already reshaped expectations for a franchise that spent decades chasing relevance.
Next up for the team: a victory parade scheduled for June 18 in New York City. Fans are expected to line the streets as the Knicks finally bring the Larry O’Brien Trophy back to Manhattan.
Leave a Comment