Jalen Brunson was unanimously named the Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player on May 26, 2026, one day after he helped the Knicks finish off a four-game sweep of the Cavaliers and reach the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years.
Brunson scored 16 points in Monday night’s 130-93 clincher, a game that sealed New York’s place in the championship series and extended the Knicks’ winning streak to 11 straight games. The guard received all nine votes from a media panel covering the Eastern Conference Finals, earning the Larry Bird Trophy as the series’ top player.
His numbers against Cleveland showed why the award was a formality. Brunson averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 assists per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the floor in the series, steering New York through the sweep with a steady offensive grip. The Knicks needed that kind of control to end a 27-year wait for a Finals berth, and Brunson supplied it from the start of the series through the final buzzer on Monday.
The sweep also left little room for debate about the shape of the series. New York was sharper, deeper and more efficient from opening tip to close, and Brunson was at the center of it. The unanimous vote only underlined how complete his run was: enough scoring to carry the offense, enough passing to keep teammates involved and enough consistency to make the result feel settled long before the trophy was announced.
For New York, the award is part of a bigger moment. The Knicks are back on the NBA’s biggest stage, and Brunson arrives there with the Eastern Conference title in hand and the confidence that comes with being named the conference finals MVP without a single dissenting vote. The next step is the Finals themselves, where the pressure only gets heavier and the margin for the Knicks grows thinner.
