Isiah Thomas Sends Public 'Thank You' to Jalen Brunson

The list of small NBA guards to lead their teams to a championship is a small one.

Isiah Thomas, Jerry West, Steph Curry...there are not too many other players on the list. But after Saturday night, Jalen Brunson can now be included. The New York Knicks guard led his team to a championship.

New York bested San Antonio in Game 5 on Saturday evening. The Knicks topped the Spurs by four points in Game 5, rallying from a double-digit second half deficit, to take down Victor Wembanyama and Co.

It was highly impressive.

Brunson was named the fourth-best Knicks player ever by Yahoo! Sports.

"Two things hold Brunson back from the top spot: 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 39-22 playoff record as a Knick is elite, even better than Ewing's four-year peak - and he has a title to boot. 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," they wrote.

Thomas, meanwhile, sends public 'thank you' to Thomas

Thomas is happy that Brunson proved, once again, that small players can be great, too.

"Jalen Brunson thank you!!! Don't run away from 'small' guards! You can win with them too. Just gotta believe and give em a real opportunity," he wrote on X.

You can win with them of course, but there aren't too many Jalen Brunson types out there these days.

It's special because they're rare.

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This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 8:00 PM.