Jalen Brunson made more baskets than anyone else in the NBA this season when games were considered to be on the line.
He delivered in the clutch. And a trophy is coming his way.
Brunson, the New York Knicks’ star guard, won the NBA’s clutch player of the year award on Wednesday. He got 70 of the 100 first-place votes, easily beating second-place Nikola Jokic of Denver and third-place Anthony Edwards of Minnesota.
“I think some people are born into it,” Brunson said on TNT shortly after the results were revealed. “I think I had to learn. I learned back in high school, kind of got better and better at each stage, and here we are.”
Brunson — who made a league-best 52 field goals in clutch time — averaged 5.6 points on 51.5% shooting in those moments, with the Knicks going 17-11 in the games he played that met the criteria for the “clutch” designation.
Brunson was truly at his best in the final 30 seconds of those games. He shot 11 for 17 — 64.7% — in those moments, including 4 for 8 from 3-point range.
A panel of 100 global writers and broadcasters who cover the NBA voted on the award. The NBA's head coaches each submitted five names for consideration, and that list resulted in 20 candidates.
Brunson is the third winner of the award, after De’Aaron Fox (then of Sacramento, now of San Antonio) in 2023 and Golden State’s Stephen Curry last year. The award is named for Hall of Famer Jerry West — who was dubbed “Mr. Clutch” when he played as a nod to his exploits when games were on the line.
For a play to be considered clutch, by the NBA’s definition, these are the criteria: the score differential has to be five points or less, and the game has to be in either the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or in overtime.
“Oftentimes you’d say, ‘Well, he has poise under pressure and he has confidence.’ And so, where do those things come from?” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said of Brunson. “And you understand that it comes from his preparation. You obviously have to have great talent. But because of the way he prepares himself, when he’s in those situations he’s very confident because of the work that he’s put into it.”
The clutch player award was the second handed out by the NBA during its awards season. Boston’s Payton Pritchard was announced as the league’s sixth man of the year on Tuesday. Another award comes Thursday: defensive player of the year, with the finalists being Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels, Golden State’s Draymond Green and Cleveland’s Evan Mobley.
The hustle award will be announced Friday. Announcement dates for the other top honors — MVP, most improved player, rookie of the year, and coach of the year, along with All-NBA and All-Rookie team selections — have not yet been revealed by the NBA.
Edwards led the NBA with 157 clutch points this season, while Brunson was second with 156 and Jokic was fourth with 140. Jokic was also third in clutch-time rebounds with 50 (behind Domantas Sabonis and Giannis Antetokounmpo, both of whom grabbed 53), and Edwards was fourth in clutch rebounds with 45. Jokic was second in clutch assists with 36 (one fewer than Trae Young), with Brunson third in clutch assists with 28 and Edwards tied for 28th.
“Finding a way to win, I think that’s what’s most important,” Brunson said. “You can have clutch plays, but they literally don’t mean anything if you don’t win. The winning part is most important for me.”
Jokic got 28 first-place votes and Edwards got the other two. Young was fourth, Curry was fifth, Cleveland’s Darius Garland was sixth, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers was seventh, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City was eighth, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell was ninth and three players — Dallas’ Kyrie Irving, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey and Boston’s Jayson Tatum — tied for 10th.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
