Jalen Brunson’s performance in leading the New York Knicks to the 2026 NBA championship made him a legend in New York, but the star guard’s performance grew even more impressive on Tuesday with the news that he played through a left wrist injury and is scheduled to undergo surgery, per multiple reports. 

Brunson is expected to return to the court later this summer, suggesting a quick rehab and recovery timeline for the Finals MVP. If all goes well, Brunson shouldn’t miss any time in the build-up to the 2026-27 season because of the surgery, with the specifics of the injury not immediately clear. 

Knicks’ Jalen Brunson disproves the ‘small guy’ doubters as he wins Finals MVP

Brad Botkin

In the playoffs, Brunson averaged 28.1 points, 6.1 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game on 46.5/36.3/84.6 shooting splits in leading the Knicks to their first championship in more than 50 years. Brunson averaged just shy of 37 minutes per game as the Knicks went 16-3 in one of the most dominant title runs in recent memory, and now we know he did so while nursing an injury to the wrist of his shooting hand. 

The Knicks have had a quiet offseason, which is generally a positive for a team coming off a championship. They did suffer a major loss with Mitchell Robinson’s departure to Boston, replacing him with Andre Drummond, but they were able to re-sign Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado to keep much of their bench unit intact from the title run. 

If Brunson is indeed able to return from wrist surgery by the end of the summer, the Knicks should enter training camp at full strength as they begin the long journey of a title defense, hoping to become the first team since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018 to win back-to-back championships.