Draymond Green did not wait for the Knicks to lift the trophy before admitting Jalen Brunson had proved him wrong.
After New York’s Game 4 win over the Spurs put them one victory from a title, Green spoke directly to Brunson on Inside the NBA.
The apology carried weight because Green has been one of the loudest skeptics of both Brunson and the Knicks’ ceiling.
Draymond Green apologizes to Jalen Brunson directly
Green had previously echoed Becky Hammon’s point that Brunson’s size made it hard to see him leading a team to a championship, then challenged him to “prove me wrong.”
He had also recently walked back his old take that Knicks fans were headed for “15 years of misery,” a prediction this Finals run has buried.
“I’ll tell you now because I want to tell you to your face. Then I’ll also say it publicly after, but I wanted to apologize in one game. I’ll tell you to your face right now, ‘I’m sorry,’ and then I’ll say it after you go and get your ring. I apologize.”
Jalen Brunson keeps answering Knicks doubts
Brunson has spent four years turning those doubts into background noise. Since joining the Knicks in 2022, he has taken the team from hopeful relevance to one win from its first championship since 1973.
Through four Finals games, Brunson is averaging 29.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and five assists, including 36 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and three steals in Game 4.
He has been the betting favorite at points in the series, and even if the award race has tightened, the old “not a No. 1 option” argument looks outdated now.
Jalen Brunson might still lose Finals MVP
Strangely, Brunson could still miss out on Finals MVP. Karl-Anthony Towns has an outside case at 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game, but OG Anunoby is the bigger threat.
Anunoby is averaging 23.8 points and four rebounds, has made 15 Finals threes, and delivered the defining Game 4 sequence with a block on De’Aaron Fox and a tip-in winner with 1.2 seconds left.
That award race does not change the Knicks’ pecking order. Brunson’s 30.3 percent usage profile reflects the truth: New York’s offense still runs through him, and his pressure is what puts Anunoby, Towns, and everyone else in position to succeed.
Green apologized before the job was finished. Brunson’s answer has been the entire playoff run.
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