Jalen Brunson has cleared almost every hurdle on this journey from No. 33 draft pick to toast of NYC. If not on the first opportunity, then the point guard gets over that bar on the second.

Or third.

Underestimating Brunson has been a perilous proposition. Forget about the accolades he wasn’t supposed to win (two All-Star appearances, two All-NBA selections), Brunson’s already bested the East guards supposedly greater than him in the playoffs — Jayson Tatum, Cade Cunningham, Donovan Mitchell.

But then there’s one always stubbornly in the way.