Wednesday kicks off the 2026 NBA Finals. It’s a rematch of the 1999 NBA Finals with the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. Even though the Garden State doesn’t have its own team anymore, its DNA and fingerprints are all over the NBA Finals.
The Knicks’ star guard Jalen Brunson was born in New Brunswick, NJ and spent his early years in southern New Jersey. He is the son of former NBA guard and now assistant coach of the Knicks, Rick Brunson. Brunson went on to lead Villanova to two NCAA National Championships in 2016 and 2018 and became a second-round pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He has rewritten every expectation about him as he is the biggest star in New York right now.
Brunson is now a three-time All-Star and has been the driving force behind this historic playoff run and win streak with an average of 26.9 points and 6.6 assists in the postseason. He and this Knicks team have the entire New York/New Jersey area in a craze, and so much so that the NYPD has shut down the watch parties outside Madison Square Garden.
Brunson’s superstar teammate, Karl-Anthony Towns, was born in Edison, grew up in Piscataway and attended St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, where he led his team to three state titles. He went first-overall in the NBA Draft and played nearly a decade for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and now he is finally home after joining the Knicks in a blockbuster trade in 2024.
There hasn’t been a better fit, as Towns has also been a huge factor in this playoff run and the success of the team overall. Towns lost his mother during COVID. He has carried a lot of grief and unmet expectations, especially in the postseason. Now, he is a huge factor in the NBA Finals and has been playing great this postseason so far, averaging 16.9 points and 10.6 rebounds. He has a tough task this series as he faces the 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama.
On the other side of the bracket, you have Dylan Harper from the Spurs, the electric rookie guard from Franklin Lakes. The product from Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey was the No. 2 overall pick of last year’s draft. He has already been playing like a veteran in these playoffs averaging 13.1 points and 5.3 rebounds. Harper is going to be the next great to come out of Jersey as he has to go against the home team in the Finals to finish his rookie campaign.
