Knicks Star Has 'It' Factor

The New York Knicks are spearheaded by one of the best leaders in the NBA.

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson controls the ball against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Max Strus. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Being a star in the NBA, especially for a team like the New York Knicks, is a job that has to go to someone special.

It's hard to put a label on it, but that person has to have special qualities, an "it" factor if you will.

For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson has "it", according to one of his former assistant coaches with the Dallas Mavericks.

“You could tell he had all the ‘it’ factors,” a former Mavericks assistant coach told The Athletic insider James Edwards III.

“That’s the magic, when you can find a player that has the ‘it’ factor because there’s not many players that have that. But when you can find that it really blows analytics and things like that out of the equation. It transcends some of the typical scouting measurements. It’s a little bit riskier because numbers make people feel comfortable, and it’s a comfort zone for decision makers to have that confirmation with the analytics and the numbers and the wingspan and all that kind of stuff. And I don’t know that he fits all those things, but you’re around him for any extended period of time then you realize just what a winner he is, how mature he is, that he’s got all these impactor things.”

While Brunson never got a true chance to showcase those "it" factors in Dallas, he certainly has done so in New York, winning a playoff series in each of his first two seasons with the team.

If Brunson is going to repeat that in his third year, he will have to continue being himself and rising to the occasion. The Knicks proved when Brunson was out in March and early April that they are different without him, so New York has to find a way to follow his lead in its playoff series against the Detroit Pistons.

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