Rick Brunson Doubles Down on His Take About Knicks Legend Patrick Ewing

Jalen Brunson led the New York Knicks to the franchise’s first NBA title since 1973, averaging 32.6 points per game in the championship series against the San Antonio Spurs.

Brunson closed out the series with a historic performance in Game 5, scoring 45 points in the Knicks’ 94-90 win. With this performance he became the first player in Knicks franchise history to record more than 40 points in an NBA Finals game.

Some now consider Brunson to be the greatest Knicks player of all time. But his father, Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson, feels that title still belongs to New York legend Patrick Ewing.

The elder Brunson made that opinion very clear immediately after Game 5, and doubled down on the take during a recent appearance with CBS Mornings.

“Patrick Ewing, obviously, [I’m an] eyewitness, is the greatest right now,” Rick Brunson said. “Pat was the hardest working guy we had and he was the best player. Pat did it for 15 years in New York, Jalen did it for four.”

“I don’t rank these players by championships,” he continued. “Another seven years you can revisit that question. But as of today, the big fella is my favorite.”

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Ewing is the Knicks’ all-time leader in points, rebounds and games played. Ewing’s Knicks made two NBA Finals appearances, losing to the Houston Rockets in 1994 and the Spurs in 1999.

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Ewing missed the entirety of the 1999 NBA Finals after suffering a season-ending injury in the Eastern Conference Finals.

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This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 12:49 PM.