LAS VEGAS — It’s smart for a coach to stump for his players. They probably appreciate it because, as we can all attest, a plea for recognition is delivered better when it comes from somebody else.

“What I have seen, somebody bring up conversations about MVP, and you see a lot of other great candidates that are well-deserving, but I don’t ever hear Jalen [Brunson’s] name,” Mike Brown said before the Knicks’ 124-113 NBA Cup tourney-clinching win over the Spurs in Vegas, where Brunson collected MVP for the in-season tournament. “When you’re first or second in either conference, and you’re putting up the numbers that he’s putting up, his name’s got to be one of the first names coming out of somebody’s mouth.

“I just hope to see that more, not by the local people in New York because they get to see him every day, but by the national people, and that’s what I want to get across.”

Again, commendable and smart to stick out your neck for your best player. Tom Thibodeau used to do it for Brunson as well, although that was usually more about not getting a superstar whistle.