Jalen Brunson ‘honored’ to be named Knicks captain, explains why he signed team-friendly extension

On this point, Jalen Brunson needs no introduction among Knicks fans. The MVP candidate has already established himself as a fan favorite after two spectacular seasons in New York.

But on Thursday afternoon, Brunson was reintroduced to the media as the 36th captain in franchise history.

Brunson’s numbers as a Knick are extremely impressive, as he’s averaging 26.5 points, 6.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 40.7 percent from beyond the arc. But Brunson has brought so much more than just his stats, and the Knicks rewarded his leadership by making him captain.

“I felt honored,” Brunson said. “For me, it doesn’t really change anything about what I do every day. I go in, I work hard, I do everything the same, but the fact that I get to hold that title means a lot.

“Being named captain never really crossed my mind. All I try to focus on is how can I help my team win, because I know that winning helps everyone individually. When you win as a team, it helps everyone individually. That’s just been my mindset throughout the whole process, and I’ll keep saying it until I weigh an ounce, I’m honored.”

Brunson also discussed signing his new four-year, $156 million contract extension, a deal in which he left more than $100 million on the table to help the Knicks build a championship roster around him (Brunson could have signed a five-year, $270 million contract extension if he had waited until next summer).

So why should you sign the extension now?

“I think everybody who knows me knows what I’m about,” Brunson said. “I think about every decision I make, and I’m completely happy with what (I) did. … I want to win. I want to win here.”

“A lot can happen in a year,” he added. “Everybody in this room has seen a lot happen in a year when players sit out. Secondly, I’d love to be here, I want to be here the rest of my career. Winning trumps anything I do, individually.”

In just two seasons, Brunson, along with head coach Tom Thibodeau and team chairman Leon Rooshas created a winning culture at the Knicks, something that has been lacking for some time.

Brunson has led the Knicks to the playoffs in each of his two seasons, finished in the Top 5 in MVP voting and earned Second Team All-NBA honors.

But don’t think the Villanova product is satisfied with this.

“It’s nice to hear that we’re contenders, but I think we have to go into training camp without that word being said,” Brunson said. “Let’s get better every day from day one. Let’s focus on the next day. Obviously I said I want to make the second round two years in a row, but you can’t just go into the season and jump back to the second round. You have to go back and start all over again.

“We’ve got some new pieces, we’ve got some familiar faces. What can we do with them? What kind of team do we want to be? So we just have to tie together and buy together.”