NEW YORK — The New York Knicks advanced to the NBA Finals on May 27, 2024, for the first time since 1999 after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Jalen Brunson was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP on May 27, 2024, after averaging 25.5 points and 7.8 assists per game in the series.

Brunson recorded 15 points and 5 assists in Game 4 of the series, a 130–93 victory that completed the sweep and sent the Knicks to the championship round against either the San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder. The Knicks won 11 consecutive playoff games to reach the Finals, doing so by an average margin of more than 25 points.

This marks the team’s first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, when Brunson was a toddler regularly present in the Knicks’ locker room as his father, Rick Brunson, served as a backup guard. Rick Brunson is now an assistant coach for the 2024 Knicks. From 2000 to 2024, the Knicks had won only three total playoff series and endured 17 seasons with a winning percentage below .500. Brunson joined the team in 2022, and since then, the Knicks have won seven playoff series.

At his 2022 introductory news conference after signing a reported $104 million contract as a free agent, Brunson said, "Seeing the guys in the locker room when I was a kid; it’s crazy sitting here right now. I don’t want to say it’s emotional, but it just brings back a lot of memories." After receiving the Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy on May 27, 2024—presented in part by Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing—Brunson added, "The belief that the organization has in me has been amazing, and something I don’t take for granted, and something not a lot of people get the opportunity to do. So I’m very thankful. It’s an honor to be here in this city for this organization with my teammates."

Ewing, who has known Brunson since childhood, said, "I’ve been knowing Jalen since he was a baby. He would always be in the locker room, always bouncing the ball, following me all over." Knicks head coach Mike Brown compared Brunson’s leadership to that of Tim Duncan and Stephen Curry, saying, "The aura that those guys have, the quiet strength that they have, is unbelievable."