Jalen Brunson won the 2026 Finals MVP in a unanimous vote, and four months later LeBron James decided that was the wrong call. He's wrong, and the closeout game on its own ends the argument.
LeBron put this back into the air this week on his "Mind the Game" podcast with Steve Nash: "OG, I think, was the MVP of the team in the Finals. Obviously, [Jalen] Brunson became the MVP. But it's the small things: the chase-down block on [De'Aaron] Fox, the tip for the [Game]. He was consistent to continue to knock down threes... Obviously, Jalen Brunson was the head of the snake. But OG was the most steady person for that team."
It's a generous take, and it's built on two of the best plays you'll ever see in a Finals. In Game 4, with the Knicks down 106-105 late, OG Anunoby chased down De'Aaron Fox and swatted the layup that would have put San Antonio up three, then beat everyone to Brunson's missed three and tipped it home for a 107-106 lead with 1.2 seconds left. That capped the greatest comeback the playoffs have ever seen. Nobody's taking those moments away from him.
But LeBron is grading the series on moments. The Finals MVP goes to the guy who decided who won and who lost, game after game, and that was Brunson in basically every one.
Go back through it. Game 1, his first Finals appearance, the Knicks down early: Brunson put up 30 and buried the dagger with 37.8 seconds left to win it 105-95. Game 2, trailing late: Brunson hit the step-back to tie it at 104 with 39 seconds to go, then drew the go-ahead free throw in a 105-104 win. Even Game 4, the night everyone files under Anunoby, was a 36-point, seven-assist, five-rebound, three-steal performance from Brunson that created the possessions OG finished. New York are champions for the first time in 53 years, and Brunson's hand was on the series the whole way through.
Then there's the closeout. Brunson scored 45 on 14-for-27 shooting and 13-for-15 at the line, including 13 straight Knicks points in the fourth quarter, to clinch the title with a 94-90 win in Game 5. The rest of the roster, OG included, managed 49 points on 17-for-60 from the field. When the offense went cold in the biggest game of the year, one player refused to let them lose.
The case for OG is real: he was the best two-way player on the floor, with defense that regularly bailed out Brunson and efficiency that bordered on absurd. That partnership is why the Knicks won. But doing it on a lighter, more sheltered load is a different job than being the engine every defense is loading up to stop, in more games, and delivering anyway. Brunson averaged 32.6 points a night across the series, the most by a Knicks player in a single Finals, through a knee injury and single coverage. He earned that vote, knee and all.
The voters aren't responsible for this one. They watched all five games live and were unanimous. This is a retrospective reach, powered by a highlight reel and amplified by a future Hall of Famer who happens to have a microphone and some history with this franchise. LeBron isn't wrong that OG was spectacular. He's wrong to call that more valuable than the guy who did more, under more attention, and still won it.
Brunson earned Finals MVP because he was the best player in that series. A podcast four months later doesn't change the vote.
