Jalen Brunson Lifts Larry Bird Trophy as Knicks Break 27-Year Curse to Reach NBA Finals

After a 27-year drought, the New York Knicks are finally heading to the NBA Finals. The Knicks completed the sweep on Monday after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

After averaging 25.8 points, 7.8 assists, and 2.5 rebounds, while shooting 47.7% from the field against the Cavs in the ECF, Jalen Brunson was named the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player. Immediately after receiving the trophy, Brunson expressed his thoughts on becoming ECF MVP.

"(The Knicks) gave me the confidence," Brunson said. "They let me be me. I think most important of all, we all believe in each other, from top to bottom. It's an honor to play with them, honestly."

Brunson then spoke more about his thoughts on his Knicks team and expressed what he was most proud of after winning the conference title.

"Resilience. I think that we'll be able to stay focused, stay composed," Brunson added. "It starts with the top of the organization. It starts with (James) Dolan, front office, coaches, then down to us. Like I said, from top to bottom, we mean something."

The last time the Knicks made a finals appearance was back in 1999. Patrick Ewing and the Knicks failed to beat the San Antonio Spurs; however, they did manage to win at least one game.

Given how Brunson and his Knicks have broken a 27-year curse, the question now is, can they also break a 53-year curse after half a century of not winning a title?

Jalen Brunson's Knicks Teammates Open Up About Winning ECF Title

While Jalen Brunson may be the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, he couldn't have swept the Cleveland Cavaliers without his teammates. Brunson's co-star, Karl-Anthony Towns, and college best friend, Josh Hart, both shared their thoughts on heading to the NBA Finals in a post-game interview.

Towns, who has been to three straight conference finals, expressed his feelings about going to the NBA Finals for the first time in his career.

"Man, it's an honor to be able to do this back in the team that I grew up cheering for my whole entire life," Towns said. "To have Patrick Ewing, Clyde, everybody here, to have the greatest fans in the NBA, show up here on the road, and for them to give us this kind of love, everywhere we go in the world, you can't ask for a better feeling."

"We had different expectations for ourselves," Towns added. "We knew that our team was capable of doing this. So all we had to do was just put the work in, continue to believe in each other, continue to sacrifice, continue to believe in the man above who'll take care of the rest, and that's what we did, and that's why we're here right now with this trophy."

Meanwhile, Hart, who's been a long-time friend of Brunson's, spoke about his buddy's leadership and how it helped lead the Knicks to their success this postseason.

"It's vital for us," Hart said. "He doesn't let us get too high or too low. Even games like this, we're up 15 (points), 20 (points), he wants to make sure that we'd double down on our habits and playing this game to win. So it's huge."

After completing the sweep, the Knicks will have some extra time to rest and recover before preparing for the NBA Finals. For now, we'll have to wait and see who will come out on top in the Western Conference.

The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are currently tied, 2-2. With potentially only three games left, the Knicks have plenty of time to recalibrate and strategize against both teams.