Jalen Brunson reaches huge career milestone in win against Bulls

Jalen Brunson has done nothing but change the fortunes of the New York Knicks for the better since he signed with the team in free agency three years ago. The Knicks have made the postseason three straight seasons, and Brunson is the team’s undisputed best player, and are poised for another strong season, especially considering how weakened the Eastern Conference is.

While they haven’t had the best start to the 2025-26 campaign, Sunday night could be a sign of better things to come for the Knicks. They beat the Chicago Bulls 128-116, handing the Bulls their first loss of the new campaign, and it was Brunson who set the scoring pace for the team – scoring 31 points on 10-22 shooting from the field and 4-11 from long range.

In doing so, Brunson passed the 9,000 point mark for his career, which is quite a lot impressive feat especially for someone taken in the second round. Brunson also took some time to emerge as a starter in the NBA, but now he’s become one of the biggest stars in the league on one of the most storied teams in the league.

Brunson entered the night just 23 points shy of the 9,000-point club. His 31-point night now gives him 9,008 career points. Of those 9,008 points, 5,722 came with the Knicks, though he has played 61 more games in a Dallas Mavericks uniform so far in his career.

His development into a legitimate superstar wasn’t guaranteed even though he was coming off a brilliant 2021-22 campaign with the Mavericks. But Knicks’ faith in Brunson paid off and continues to do so in a big way. He is under contract through at least the 2027-28 campaign, giving New York plenty of security in that regard.

Jaylen Brunson, Knicks looking to overcome slow start to 2025-26 campaign

The Nix decided to make a big change before the start of the 2025-26 season, replacing head coach Tom Thibodeau, who had been at the helm since the 2020-21 season, with Mike Brown. There are sure to be some growing pains for a Knicks team accustomed to playing a certain way, and that has resulted in a slow start to the new campaign.

They entered Sunday’s clash against the Bulls on the back of a three-game losing streak. But they rectified that on Sunday, and will look to win on Monday when they face the Washington Wizards in the second game of a back-to-back.