Jalen Brunson came into the NBA with Luka Dončić in the 2018 draft.

He’s now going out on his own after departing the Mavericks, signing a free-agent contract with the New York Knicks on Tuesday for a reported $104 million over four seasons.

That’s roughly $98 million more than Brunson earned for four years of service in Dallas. And it couldn’t happen to a better guy.

The Mavericks could have offered more total money. But Brunson’s heart told him to follow a dream back to the team that he idolized as a kid, the place where his father, Rick, was hired as an assistant coach under Tom Thibodeau and a puddle-jump from Jalen’s adopted home area of suburban Philadelphia.

Can’t fault that. It’s actually nice to see occasions when money doesn’t trump everything else in the sporting world.

But with Brunson having moved on, he leaves behind four seasons of memories that Mavericks’ fans will always have. Here, we count down our five greatest Brunson Burner moments with the Mavericks.

KICKING THE SPURS: It was tempting to put his career-best 34 points against San Antonio during his rookie season in this spot. But the Mavericks lost that game so it was a bit hollow, even by Brunson’s estimation. Instead, we go with Brunson’s season-best 31 points from Game 8 of the 2021-22 season. Brunson scored 13 points in a row in the final 4:09 to propel the Mavericks to a scintillating 109-108 win at San Antonio. He had four points in the final 21 seconds to seal the deal. Brunson also had 10 rebounds and a pair of steals that night as the Mavericks earned a hard-fought win – and, really, are there any other kind against the Spurs.

DISHING IT OUT: Usually in this spot, we’d be talking about assists, like the 11 helpers he had early last season in a win over. Houston. But in this case, we’re talking pizzas. In November, 2019, near the beginning of a season that would turn south in March with the advent of the COVID-19 crisis, Brunson helped serve up pizzas at the Dallas Life homeless facility near downtown Dallas. As he asked adults and children if they wanted sausage, pepperoni or cheese, you could just tell how Brunson was beaming on the inside. “Mostly, it’s just great to be here,” he said that day. “The folks here get to have some good pizza and hopefully get to smile a little. I know it puts a smile on my face to do this.” That was one of the first times – but certainly not the last – that Brunson showed his passion for giving back to and improving the community.

STEPPING UP AS LUKA’S LIEUTENANT: It’s not surprising that Brunson’s top three moments with the Mavericks all came in the recent, magical playoff run to the Western Conference finals. In Game 2 against Golden State, with the Warriors having won Game 1, the Mavericks went up 72-58 at halftime as Brunson poured in 20 points and had four assists. They would end up losing 126-117 as the Warriors held the Mavs to 13 third-quarter points. But Brunson finished with 31 points and he was the only Maverick who played more than 10 minutes who finished with a positive plus-minus (plus-2). While the Mavericks fell into a 2-0 hole, it was more proof that Brunson can be equally effective as a lead horse (see below) or as a capable sidekick. Luka had 42 points in the loss.

SAVING THE DAY: The doomsayers were everywhere. Dončić was down with a strained calf muscle and a lot of people in the know were predicting Utah would crush the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. And after Game 1, when the Mavericks lost on their home court, the skeptics were looking good. Enter Brunson. He scored a career-best 41 points in Game 2 and fueled a fourth-quarter blitz in which the Mavericks overcame a seven-point deficit and went on to win 110-104 to level the series. It would have been the crowning achievement of Brunson’s Maverick career if not for . . .

SAVING THE DAY, PART II: Luka would miss one more game with his calf injury. And Game 3 was in Salt Lake City, one of the most ravenous buildings in the NBA. The Mavericks hadn’t won in Utah since the Clinton administration. Or so it seemed. But Brunson controlled every aspect of the game as the Mavericks led virtually all the way and took charge of the series with a 126-118 victory. Brunson’s numbers weren’t as gaudy as they were in Game 2. But he had 31 points and six assists and was the guiding hand that made sure the Mavericks did not lose poise when the fourth-quarter pressure cranked up. This came after some New York Knick executives had sat courtside at the games in Dallas and was perhaps a clinching moment in the argument of whether Brunson is ready to be the lead horse on an NBA team.

Twitter: @ESefko

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