Earlier this week, All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson was named the captain of the New York Knicks, marking a significant moment as the team had not appointed an official captain in five years.
Jalen Brunson becomes the first Knick to be designated team captain since Lance Thomas in 2018-19. 🫡
Full list of franchise captains & co-captains:
Jalen Brunson
Lance Thomas
Courtney Lee
Carmelo Anthony
Amar'e Stoudemire
Raymond Felton
David Lee
Chris… pic.twitter.com/fYebP2PaG3— Boardroom (@boardroom) August 6, 2024
According to the Boardroom: “Jalen Brunson becomes the first Knick to be designated team captain since Lance Thomas in 2018-19.”
On Thursday, the Knicks held a press conference to announce this news and released a video narrated by Basketball Hall of Famer and Knicks legend Patrick Ewing.
Ewing began the clip by saying: “Hey Jalen, it’s Patrick. If someone told me the young boy running around the Garden would grow up to be the captain of the New York Knicks. You know what? I’d probably believe it. Even as a kid, you could connect with anyone around you and the confidence. You’d walk up to anyone in that locker room and say just about anything. It was family. It’s always family with you. People just want to be around you, Jalen. You’re a born leader.”
Born to play basketball for the Knicks!
Just be Jalen, narrated by Patrick Ewing 🎥 pic.twitter.com/18iAZrJ05F
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) August 8, 2024
Rick Brunson, Jalen’s father, was teammates with Ewing for two seasons on the Knicks and is currently one of the team’s assistant coaches. Ewing, who played 15 seasons with the Knicks and made 11 NBA All-Star appearances, led the team to the NBA Finals twice but was unable to secure a championship.
As for Brunson, he has been with New York for two seasons. Last year, the Knicks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
Mindset of our CAPTA11N 🔒 pic.twitter.com/bExi8vDcqx
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) August 8, 2024