Jalen Brunson wins NBA Finals MVP after all-time run through playoffs

Jalen Brunson is your 2026 NBA Finals MVP, as anyone could have told you after watching Game 5 on Saturday.

The New York Knicks captain dropped 45 points to close out yet another comeback win over the San Antonio Spurs, upping his series average to 32.6 points per game. On a night when New York had little else working on offense, putting the ball in his hands paid off repeatedly.

Those 45 points match Michael Jordan for the most scored on the road to clinch a title.

The Finals MVP vote was predictably unanimous, with all 11 voters choosing Brunson. He is the fourth player to win Finals MVP after being selected in the second round of the NBA Draft, joining fellow Knicks great Willis Reed (1970, 1973), Dennis Johnson (1979) and Nikola Jokić (2023).

Soon after the buzzer sounded, he was celebrating with father Rick Brunson, a Knicks assistant coach and former player. He got to enjoy the journey with two college teammates, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, as well.

"It's everything I've ever dreamed of," Brunson said.

Brunson, a New Jersey native, is in his fourth season with the Knicks after leaving the Dallas Mavericks in free agency. He even gave New York an assist two years ago with a $113 million break in guaranteed money to help build a contender around him.

The Knicks have experienced heartbreak even with Brunson, but that scar tissue wound up being one of the things that separated them from the Spurs, a talented young team that seemed to lose the plot every time they built a double-digit lead. The Knicks simply knew what they had to do.

There were doubters along the way. Even a three-time WNBA champion coach was among the people who didn't believe a player with his size and playing style could lead a team to a championship. Brunson showed how wrong that take was by being the steadiest player on the floor, calmly weaving through the Spurs in comeback after comeback.