Quantified: Is Jalen Brunson the greatest Knick ever?
There’s a saying in New York that bonds together the generations of five boroughs and beyond.
“Once a Knick, always a Knick.”
If you suit up for the New York Knicks, at any point, no matter how briefly, you will achieve immortality within Madison Square Garden.
But there are levels to this. As any Knicks fan will readily attest, there’s a massive difference between Carmelo Anthony and Cleanthony Early. Between Walt Frazier and Walter McCarty.
If Jalen Brunson wins the 2026 NBA Finals, which begin Wednesday, the point guard will reach a level that only few Knicks have ever touched. Would he be the greatest Knicks player of all time? Better than Carmelo and his patented jumper? More iconic than Patrick Ewing and his sweaty kneepads? Gasp — more legendary than Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Willis Reed?
To get to the bottom of this, I created a six-pronged metric to see where Brunson currently ranks among the Knicks legends and additionally how he’d stack up if this squad wins it all this year. I’ve coined it A.L.W.A.Y.S., which is a highly sophisticated composite metric that blends six subscores that quantify a player’s contributions to Knicks canon. For each subscore, players are graded on a five-point scale, up to five points for maximum contribution and down to zero for completely empty output. The “S” category for “Success In Playoffs” is graded on a 10-point scale for extra weighting. A perfect A.L.W.A.Y.S. grading will be worth 35 points.
Here are the six subscores of A.L.W.A.Y.S. for your perusal:
A for A1 Since Day One
Is this player from New York or the tri-state area? Was he drafted by the Knicks or did he join at a later date? Did his dad or family member play for the Knicks?
L for Lore
Did this player have iconic moments that Knicks fans will tell their grandkids about? Celebrations, off-court news items or pop culture contributions not required but greatly encouraged. This category served as the tiebreaker, if needed.
W for Wins in Regular Season
Were the Knicks good when this player played? How were their regular-season records with this player in uniform?
A for Accolades As Individual
How many All-Star nods did this player achieve in a Knicks uni? All-NBA? MVP? What about secondary awards like Sixth Man of the Year and Clutch Performer of the Year?
Y for Years
Did this player have a cup of coffee in New York or did he spend the majority of whole career in MSG?
S for Success In Playoffs
Did this player win a title with the Knicks? Multiple rings? How many times did they make the playoff stage? Did they reach the Finals or conference finals or did they struggle to go deep in the postseason?
Alright, with that out of the way, here’s the definitive list of the 10 greatest Knicks players of all time as measured by the “A.L.W.A.Y.S.” Score.
10. Carmelo Anthony
Seasons: 7 (2011-2017)
Resumé: 2x All-NBA, 6x All-Star, Hall of Fame, NBA 75
The Brooklyn-born Carmelo Anthony brought back legitimacy to the Knicks after the Isiah Thomas era, but his seven-year tenure with the Knicks wasn’t synonymous with winning. Anthony’s Knicks teams posted a sub-.500 regular-season win percentage and a 7-14 record in the playoffs, which can’t be ignored when it comes to the pantheon of Knicks players. The franchise’s all-time leader in usage rate, Melo racked up individual accolades through his high-volume scoring, and yet he trailed Allan Houston, Richie Guerin and Carl Braun in career points in a Knicks uniform.
9. Dick McGuire
Seasons: 8 (1949-1957)
Resumé: 6x All-Star, 1x All-NBA, 1x AST champ, Hall of Fame
McGuire did just about everything for the Knicks except win a title as a player. A local hero and St. John’s Hall of Famer, McGuire played, coached and manned the front office for decades. In fact, his Knick career spanned the 1949 Draft until his death in 2010 when he was serving as a consultant. It’s tricky to evaluate his individual accolades and playoff success in a league when there were as few as eight teams, but his No. 15 jersey is retired for a reason: for a long time, he was the Knicks.
8. Earl Monroe
Seasons: 9 (1971-1980)
Resumé: 2x All-Star, 1x Champ
An instrumental part of the 1972-73 team that won the chip, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe was a stylish innovator on the floor who had battled injuries after a brilliant start to his career with the rival Baltimore Bullets. Monroe enjoyed a late-career resurgence with the Knicks, forming the Rolls Royce Backcourt with Walt Frazier and dazzling the Madison Square Garden crowd. If he started his career in New York like his draft classmate Frazier, Monroe would rank much higher.
7. Dave DeBusschere
Seasons: 6 (1968-1974)
Resumé: 1x All-NBA, 5x All-Star, 6x All-Defense, 2x Champ, Hall of Fame, NBA 75
Like Carmelo Anthony, DeBusschere established his star status well before he was traded to the Knicks. Joining the Knicks halfway through his career, the defensive stalwart anchored the paint for the Knicks in their two championship runs. In his post-playing days, he drafted a young man named Patrick Ewing when he served as the Knicks’ director of basketball operations and assistant coach. Not a bad Knick career.
6. Charles Oakley
Seasons: 10 (1988-1998)
Resumé: 1x All-Star, 2x All-Defense
The MSG roof would pop off if Oak, the Knicks’ all-time leader in offensive rebounds, appeared on the Jumbotron in the NBA Finals. James Dolan has banned the power forward from the Manhattan premises, an absolute shame considering what he did on the floor for so many years. As the defensive enforcer in the Patrick Ewing era, Oakley did all the little things, but also did enough big things to earn an All-Star spot in 1993-94. Can you imagine if Udonis Halsem wasn’t allowed inside Miami’s arena?
5. Bill Bradley
Seasons: 10 (1967-1977)
Resumé: 1x All-Star, 2x Champ, Hall of Fame
A Knick from start to finish, Bradley wore the orange-and-blue for a decade in New York’s heyday and won a pair of championship rings along the way. Scoring extra “A1 Since Day 1” points, the Knicks selected Bradley with a “territorial” pick in 1965 through his Princeton (of Princeton, NJ) University studies and continued his local ties as a three-term US Senator of New Jersey. Third in games played in a Knicks uniform, his retired No. 24 jersey hangs in the rafters at Madison Square Garden with good reason.
4. Jalen Brunson
Seasons: 4 (2022-present)
Resumé: 3x All-NBA, 3x All-Star, Clutch POY, Conference Finals MVP
Three things are holding Brunson back from the top spot: not winning a title (yet), longevity and not being drafted by the Knicks. Otherwise, absolute Knick legend. It’s hard to imagine a better four-year run than what we’ve seen from the Brunson Burner. His 35-21 playoff record as a Knick is elite, even better than Ewing’s peak. Bonus points for growing up in the New York City area and being the son of former Knick Rick Brunson. If he wins multiple titles and finishes out his career as a Knick, he’ll have a rightful place atop the throne.
3. Patrick Ewing
Seasons: 15 (1985-2000)
Resumé: 7x All-NBA, 11x All-Star, 3x All-Defense, Hall of Fame, NBA 75
If only he had won a title, he’d be the GOAT Knick in the hearts and minds of Knicks fans. He’s already there for many. No one has won more games, scored more points or made more All-Star teams in a Knicks uniform than Big Pat. If his two Finals appearances turned out differently (or if Michael Jeffrey Jordan didn’t exist), Ewing would be head and shoulders above the rest.
2. Willis Reed
Seasons: 10 (1964-1974)
Resumé: 5x All-NBA, 7x All-Star, 2x Champ, 2x Finals MVP, Hall of Fame, NBA 75
How do you top two Finals MVPs and have something as iconic as “The Willis Reed Game”? Brunson will certainly try. Reed, who passed away in 2023, may not have been as flashy as Frazier, but he personifies the greatness and blue-collar culture that Knicks fans hold so close to their hearts. Reed limping onto the MSG court for Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers to win the franchise’s first title is one of the most revered moments in NBA history.
1. Walt “Clyde” Frazier
Seasons: 10 (1967-1977)
Resumé: 6x All-NBA, 7x All-Star, 2x Champ, 7x All-Defense, Hall of Fame, NBA 75
The epitome of cool. The apex of New York starpower. The peerless way he calls the game with poetry is only outdone with his signature fashion. Oh and he was a no-doubt Hall of Famer and two-time champion in the floor, too. Unlike Reed, Frazier didn’t finish his career with the Knicks, but his post-playing career as the Knicks broadcaster more than made up for retiring as a Cav. Brunson may be the latest, but Frazier’s the greatest.
Honorable mentions: Harry Gallatin, John Starks, Carl Braun, Bernard King, Dick Barnett, Allan Houston, Mark Jackson, Charlie Ward, Karl-Anthony Towns, Phil Jackson, Anthony Mason, Richie Guerin, Latrell Sprewell, Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle, Larry Johnson, Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler and Jeremy Lin.
