Jalen Brunson Wins 2024-25 NBA Clutch Player of the Year Over Anthony Edwards, Jokic

Some of the best players in the entire NBA played at their best in the most important moments, but nobody was more clutch than Jalen Brunson

And that is why the New York Knicks star took home the 2024-25 NBA Clutch Player of the Year award Wednesday.

Brunson was recognized over fellow finalists Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets.

The NBA defines "clutch" as how a player performed in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score was within five points in either direction. Given that criteria, it isn't difficult to see why Brunson, Edwards and Jokić were the three finalists competing for the award.

Brunson led the league with an average of 5.6 points in clutch time, per NBA.com. He also shot 51.5 percent from the field and dished out 1.0 assists in such situations.

There were plenty of times throughout the season that New York's offense in critical moments boiled down to getting the ball to Brunson and letting him go to work. His physicality from the guard position allows him to finish through contact at the rim and post smaller defenders up, and he used that skill set in the season's most important moments.

Without Brunson's ability to carry the team in the clutch, the Knicks never would have finished with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Elsewhere, Jokić's clutch numbers underscore how he impacts the game in so many ways at a ruthlessly efficient level. He averaged 4.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 56.2 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from deep during clutch situations this season.

He consistently put the Nuggets on his back and worked to pick apart opposing defenses from the top of the key, the elbow and the post as a matchup nightmare. 

That ability to come through in the clutch also helped power Jokić's push for a fourth MVP in his illustrious career.

While Edwards can't match Jokić's resume at this point, the 23-year-old is already one of the faces of the league in part because of his own clutch-time abilities. He posted averages of 3.7 points and 1.1 rebounds in clutch situations and was Minnesota's go-to option whenever the game was on the line.

He also did so more often, as he played in 42 games that featured clutch scenarios compared to 33 for Jokić and 28 for Brunson.

All three playmakers could make a case for the award, but it ended up going to Brunson.