Jalen Brunson remains the New York Knicks‘ best player, one of the most pivotal players in franchise history.
But something is happening this season, something subtle but noticeable. Brunson has gotten slightly worse statistically across the board.
It’s not a drastic shift. He’s still putting up quality numbers.
In Wednesday night’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Brunson scored 27 points on 12-for-23 shooting. That’s a good night at the office.
But taken in totality, Brunson’s game has taken a tiny step backward — and on the stat sheet, it’s actually gone down for a couple years now, not considering the postseason.
It’s worth a look to see if there’s anything to be learned.
Jalen Brunson Stats Decline
In almost every statistical category, Brunson has worse numbers than last season — which had mostly worse numbers than the year before — which has mostly worse numbers than the year before that.
The shooting efficiency is what’s striking but subtle, and so we’ll start there.
In 2023-24, Brunson shot 47.9% from the floor. In 2024-25, it was 48.8%. Last season, it dropped to 46.7%. This season? It’s all the way down to 43.0%.
His 3-point efficiency has dropped each season, beginning at 40.1% in 2023-24, down to 38.3% then 36.9% and now this season at 36.7%.
His foul shooting is at 78.2% this season, as well, which would mark his first Knicks campaign below 82%.
Brunson’s averaging fewer assists than he ever has for the Knicks — his previous low was 6.2 per game, and he’s currently at 5.2 per game.
Brunson averaged 3.3 rebounds last year and is at 3.1 this year — that’s one stat that’s close enough and irrelevant enough that it’s not a big deal.
Even in steals, Brunson is at his lowest rate (0.6 per game) since joining the Knicks.
His points per game has managed to settle in at 26.0, which is exactly what it was each of the last two seasons, but Brunson is taking more shots to reach the same point due to his inefficiency.
It may all stabilize in the long run. A couple big games go a long way. But Brunson isn’t in an ideal place so far this season.
What’s Wrong With Jalen Brunson?
Most likely, there’s nothing wrong with Brunson.
There’s a chance that the deep playoff run took its toll physically just a bit, making it tough for Brunson to hit his stride so far early in this season.
He also turned 30 in August and isn’t the biggest guy relative to NBA players, so physicality through the years can begin to take its toll.
The Knicks will just be hoping to see a few classic Brunson-level games sooner rather than later. That’ll alleviate any worries here.
Knicks’ Jalen Brunson Decline Across the Board Continues