Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson undergoes left wrist surgery
New York Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson underwent surgery to repair an injury to his left wrist, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. He’s expected to spend “at least two months” rehabilitating following the procedure, according to Ian Begley of SNY, with a return to basketball activity anticipated later this summer, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
NBA teams typically open training camp in late September, with preseason games beginning in early October and the regular season tipping off in late October. That would give Brunson nearly three months to recover from the procedure before the Knicks break camp, and nearly four months before they begin the defense of their 2026 NBA championship.
Casey Powell of KnicksFanTV first reported that Brunson would undergo a procedure after “playing through discomfort” to his shooting arm throughout the Knicks’ run to the 2026 NBA championship, according to Begley. Brunson’s production didn’t dip from his customary elite level, though: The 29-year-old averaged a playoff-high 28.4 points to go with 6.1 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 36.9 minutes per game in the 2026 postseason, shooting 46.5% from the field, 36.3% from 3-point range and 84.6% from the foul line.
The three-time All-Star and All-NBA selection did go through a cold snap shooting from the perimeter in the postseason, missing 31 of his 39 3-point attempts from Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers through Game 2 of the 2026 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Even with his long-distance jumper offline, though, Brunson remained a constant presence.
Brunson started that cold stretch by scoring or assisting on 27 of the Knicks’ final 44 points to erase a 22-point deficit against the Cavs to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and put them up 1-0 in the conference finals. He ended it by making the final shot, final free throw and final steal of another epic comeback to put them up 2-0 in the Finals.
"For J.B., you call it rough shooting nights — I see him hitting the free throw to give us the game [...] the last game, he hit some of the craziest shots I've seen to give us the game," Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns said. "So I don't know if … you say a rough shooting night, I see Captain Clutch doing what he's always been doing since I got here. When it comes down to the actual game? To winning the game? Number 11 can't be messed with."
Brunson would prove that over the balance of the Finals, going 10-for-19 from deep in Games 3 through 5 and averaging 37.7 points per game in that stretch against unanimous Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama and an elite Spurs defense. New York’s captain capped that run off with one of the greatest Finals performances in NBA history: 45 points on 14-for-27 shooting from the field, 4-for-7 from 3-point range, 13-for-15 from the free-throw line in 41 minutes.
Game 5 made Brunson the first Knick ever to score 40 points in an NBA Finals game, one of just 11 players in NBA history with a 45-point game in the Finals, one of only six to do it on the road, and one of just four ever to do it in acloseoutgame. The list of 45-point performances in the Finals, on the road and in a closeout game? It's just Michael Jordan, 1998, Game 6 in Utah, 1998, and Jalen Brunson, 2026, Game 5 in San Antonio.
Winning Eastern Conference finals MVP, NBA Finals MVP and the Knicks’ first NBA championship in 53 years was obviously impressive enough on its own. Doing it with a busted shooting arm? Well, that’ll only burnish the legend.
"I'm hurting right now," Brunson admitted after Game 5 in San Antonio. "I'm not going to lie to you. I'm hurting right now. But like I said before, the opportunity presented itself. Whatever you've got to do."
