New York Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson has been the hottest topic of conversation in the basketball world within the Big Apple over the last month, and that has not stopped following the latest present he received from another New York sports superstar.
As SNY shared on X, Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees’ former AL MVP, gifted Brunson with a signed pair of cleats that came with a message for the Villanova product to “keep running the city” (h/t Ben Stinar of Fastbreak on SI):
Yankees star Aaron Judge has made a name for himself as a face of New York sports
Those are some heavy words of encouragement from arguably the face of New York sports at the moment. Judge is currently among, if not the most feared hitter in the MLB, leading the big leagues in several categories including home runs (35) and RBIs (89) on the 2024 campaign.
The Fresno State product has led the Yankees to an impressive 60-44 record and the third overall seed in the American League, trailing the top-seeded Baltimore Orioles by only two games in the standings. The Yankees look like they have their best chance to capture a World Series in the Aaron Judge era this year.
- Could the Knicks make a trade for Pistons’ shot-blocking big man?
- Could Knicks’ former fan-favorite sharp-shooter find his way back in 2026?
- Could the Knicks pursue Nets’ volume scorer in a trade?
Judge gave Knicks star Jalen Brunson his flowers after emergent 2023-24 season
Though he has a laundry list of accomplishments, the three-time Silver Slugger award winner decided to show love to the Knicks’ franchise player by propping Brunson up as the driving force of New York sports. Brunson surely brought an infectious energy to the city last season as he contended for the 2024 NBA MVP award while establishing himself as an elite scorer with 28.7 points per game to his name on the campaign.
The New Jersey native put the Knicks on his back amid a midseason wave of injuries and fueled them to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals without Julius Randle next to him as his No. 2 option. Brunson put on a scoring exhibition in the playoffs and followed that up by taking an unfathomable $113 million pay cut on his four-year, $156 million extension to remain with the franchise so that the front office could have legroom to pull off another future championship trade or signing.
Judge and Brunson are simultaneously at the pinnacles of their respective careers and have New York in a period of immense success it has not seen across the four Major American team sports at once, in years. Judge’s present for Brunson is a well-timed and well-intentioned gesture that New York sports fans can take in while the Knicks are away from the court this offseason and the Yankees wage a second-half surge in pursuit of a World Series.
