NBA Basketball Wiretap

Jalen Brunson's game-worn jersey from Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals sold for $1.024 million on Wednesday night, setting a new record for New York Knicks memorabilia. The sale came through Sotheby's as part of the auction house's NBA Finals collection.

Brunson wore the jersey while scoring 30 points as the Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 105-95 in Game 1 on June 3. The Knicks went on to win the series 4-1 and capture the 2026 title, with Brunson earning Finals MVP honors.

The sale marks the largest public sum ever paid for a Brunson item. Still, it falls well short of the top NBA jersey sale on record: Michael Jordan's jersey from his final 1998 Finals game, which brought $10.1 million at Sotheby's in September 2022.

Sotheby's is also running a separate auction for a Kobe Bryant jersey from Game 1 of the 2009 Finals, with bidding at $1.25 million as of Wednesday. That auction closes July 20.

Brunson's memorabilia surge extends beyond jerseys. His 2018 Panini Prizm Choice Nebula one-of-one card, graded PSA 9, sold for $312,000 on June 19 through Card Ladder, up from a previous high of roughly $97,000 in November 2024. The same card had listed for just $300 in 2019.

Other Knicks jerseys from the collection also drew strong bids. Jerseys worn by OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns each sold for $256,000, while Josh Hart's jersey brought $89,600. On the Spurs' side, Victor Wembanyama's Game 1 jersey led all sales at $217,600, followed by Dylan Harper's at $115,200.

Mitchell Robinson addressed the hand injury he suffered before the NBA Finals on a Facebook post on Sunday, saying it was related to his reaction after hearing that his younger brother was in a car accident.

"I received an unexpected phone call, and my family members contacted me, informing me that my youngest brother had been involved in a car accident. I did not see the messages until I arrived home late that night. As the eldest sibling, I felt a deep sense of concern, and I immediately went into panic mode.

"I began returning calls and texts, and when I FaceTimed my brother, I thought he was deceased. He was wearing a neck brace, unresponsive, and not speaking. I broke down in tears, feeling like a failure for not being able to protect my siblings. Being 910 miles away, I felt helpless. In a moment of frustration, I banged my hand on my truck," wrote Robinson in his post.

Robinson averaged 4.8 points and 5.5 rebounds over 18 playoff games.

Robinson most recently signed a three-year, $47.4 million deal with the Celtics. 

The 2026 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs averaged 20.6 million viewers across ABC and ESPN, setting an all-time audience record for the network and marking the most-watched Finals since Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz in 1998, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel.

Game 5 on ABC drew an average of 24.5 million viewers and peaked at 33 million during the closing moments of New York's championship-clinching victory. It was the most-watched NBA Finals Game 5 since 1998.

The five-game series doubled viewership from last year's seven-game NBA Finals, representing a 100 percent increase year over year when the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers in a highly entertaining seven-game series.

ABC and ESPN's Finals broadcasts topped all of television each night, leading every major male and adult demographic category.

Jalen Brunson was named Finals MVP after leading the Knicks to the series victory in Game 5, delivering New York its first NBA championship in more than five decades.

The New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 to win the 2026 NBA championship. Victor Wembanyama addressed reporters afterward, calling the series a defining moment in his career.

"I think that compared to anything before, this is the biggest lesson of my life, the biggest learning moment," said Wembanyama. "I can't tell you exactly what the lesson is, but we're learning from that, for sure. I'm learning more than any other time in my life before."

Wembanyama pointed to the Spurs' inconsistency as the deciding factor in the series.

"I learned one of many things, the margin of error is very thin," said Wembanyama. "Our domination stints are absolute. We absolutely dominated for most of the series. But our errors, our mistakes, are punished so hard that we can't have ups and downs like this.

"The ups are okay. The downs is the reason we lost."

He acknowledged the difficulty of accepting that championships often require years of development as reporters cited the paths of Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Jerry West.

"Extremely. It's painful. It's painful," said Wembanyama. "But I'm not running away from that. I'm using to fuel me. I'm sure all these guys you named, they're not satisfied with being eliminated in earlier rounds or not making the Playoffs.

"I'm not satisfied with not winning. But as I said, this is the biggest lesson of my life. As a team, there's no better experience than what we just lived."

Wembanyama also expressed frustration over the wait until the Spurs can compete for a championship again.

"What I'm pissed about is that there's probably a hundred games before we can be back in Finals," said Wembanyama. "I don't know how to say it in English, but I'm going to have to hold that inside of me and slow down and wait and execute for a hundred games."

Jalen Brunson has been named Most Valuable Player of the 2026 NBA Finals in a unanimous vote of 11 media members.

Brunson becomes the ninth unique Finals MVP over the past nine seasons dating back to Kevin Durant in 2018. Brunson joins Nikola Jokic as the only second round picks in the modern era to win Finals MVPs. Since 2021, the average draft position of Finals MVP is 20.5 .

Brunson had 45 points on 14-for-27 shooting from the floor and 13-for-15 at the line. The rest of the Knicks combined for just 49 points in Game 5.

Brunson previously won a pair of national championships in college with Villanova.

The New York Knicks have won the 2026 NBA championship, beating the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5. The Knicks hadn't won a championship since 1973.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 45 points in the closeout game as he went 14-for-27 from the floor and 13-for-15 from the line. Brunson battled to keep the Spurs' lead close despite foul trouble from both Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby. Brunson immediately embraced his father, Rick Brunson, after the final buzzer.

Dylan Harper scored 25 points to lead the Spurs as Stephon Castle and De'Aaron Fox combined to to 4-for-25 from the field.

The Spurs rebounded from a heartbreaking Game 4 loss in which they blew a 29-point lead to give a valiant effort in Game 5, but their offense completely slowed down in the fourth quarter as they were outscored 29-18 by the Knicks.

"I have no words," said Brunson to Lisa Salters. "Everything I've ever dreamed of. I'm in awe."

The Knicks become the NBA's eighth different champion over the past eight seasons.

New York replaced Tom Thibodeau with Mike Brown as head coach last offseason despite reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. During the first round after going down 2-1 to the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks began a 13-game win streak that was only broken in Game 3 of the Finals as they played the best basketball of this era of the team.