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Jalen Brunson has won the NBA’s 2024-25 Clutch Player of the Year, the league announced on Wednesday. Branson joins De’aaron Fox and Stephen Curry as the only recipient of the award in a relatively short history. He is the first New York Nick to bring home a major individual trophy as former teammate Julius Randle was named the most improved player since the 2020-21 season.
Branson won 70 votes out of 100. Nicola Jokic placed second with 26 first-place votes, while Anthony Edwards placed third with 2nd first-place votes. Only two other players received the number one vote for Steph Curry and Lebron James.
Branson’s late game hero kept the Knicks almost alone as the third seed of the Eastern Conference. He scored a total of 156 points in clutch situations this season, scoring second in the league behind Anthony Edwards with 157. The important difference was the volume. Edwards played 42 clutch games. Branson played 28, but he managed to shoot 51.5% with the clutch in those games, earning points much faster than Edwards. In particular, Branson is the first Clutch Player of the Year winner to not lead the NBA in Clutch Points totals in the winning season, as both Fox and Curry did.
The Knicks ultimately went 19-12 with the clutch and 17-11 with Branson’s clutch game. The Knicks are now over .500 in all three Branson seasons in New York, but that didn’t mean he lacked a tough competition. The runner-up in the award was someone who already had plenty of trophies on his shelf: Jokic, three-time MVP.
Jokic led the Denver Nuggets to a 21-16 record with the clutch. He finished the year with 140 so he didn’t score as many points as Branson, but he was more efficient and posted a 56-43-72 shooting line in clutch situations. Not surprisingly, Jokic ranked second in clutch assist (Branson was third) and third in clutch rebound.
But in the end, voters were dependent on Branson’s shotmaking. When the Knicks need a bucket later in the game, Branson’s craft and footwork almost always get them. The award, named after Jerry West, has now won three consecutive winners who share his position as a security guard.
